PITTSBURGH, Oct. 8 – Rudolph E. Tanzi, Ph.D., professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School and director of genetics and aging research at MassGeneral Institute for Neurodegenerative Disease, will present a lecture on Alzheimer’s disease from noon to 1:30 p.m., Friday, Oct. 16, at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, 130 DeSoto St., Room A115. It is part of the Jay L. Foster Memorial Lecture in Alzheimer’s Disease, which was established by the family of Jay L. Foster, a successful Pittsburgh businessman who died from the disease in 2000.
In 1986, Tanzi was among the first investigators to discover the APP gene, which would later be identified as the first known Alzheimer’s gene. Seven years later, he was the lead investigator of a project to identify the gene that causes Wilson’s disease, another neurological disorder. And in 1995, he was part of a team that found two more genes associated with Alzheimer’s.
Tanzi also is chairman of the Research Consortium of the Cure Alzheimer’s Fund, which sponsored the Alzheimer’s Genome Project – recognized by Time magazine/CNN as one of 2008’s “Top 10 Medical Breakthroughs” in the world. The Fund was founded in 2004 by Pittsburghers Jeff and Jacqui Morby.
The Foster family established the lecture series because they learned firsthand that knowledge about Alzheimer’s disease is an important factor in coping with its effects, especially the pain of watching a loved one decline. They hope that caregivers, family members, residential treatment staff and other health professionals will be aided by this educational series. The lectures, which are free and open to the public, are managed by GSPH through the support of the Foster Charitable Trust.
For more information, call (412) 383-8849.
10/08/2009