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On this episode of Translating Proteomics, host Andreas Huhmer discusses advances in Alzheimer’s research with special guest and Curie Bio Drug Maker in Residence, Sarah DeVos Ph.D. Their conversation focuses on:

• The impact of molecular diagnostics on Alzheimer’s research
• Recent Alzheimer’s drug approvals
• The future of Alzheimer’s research

*Small edit on Sarah's background - She did her graduate work at Washington University in St. Louis and a Postdoc at Massachusetts General Hospital*

Chapters

00:00 – Introduction

01:54 – Why Sarah began studying Alzheimer’s

03:39 – Current tools and needs for future Alzheimer’s diagnostics

09:52 – Recent drug approvals in the Alzheimer’s space and their relationship to diagnostics

14:26 – Is it possible to develop biomarkers that detect Alzheimer’s at its earliest stages?

16:36 – What is limiting the development of new Alzheimer’s biomarkers?

17:51 – The DIAN trials and learnings from studying dominantly inherited Alzheimer’s

19:33 – The genetics of Alzheimer’s

22:19 – Novel approaches to identifying and understanding Alzheimer’s pathology 

25:54 – Where can proteomics advance Alzheimer’s research?

31:25 – The role of proteomics in Alzheimer’s animal models

34:33 – Sarah’s hopes for the next 10 years of Alzheimer’s research

41:39 - Outro

Resources

Dominant Inherited Alzheimer’s Network (DIAN) trials research updates

o   In the DIAN trials, researchers work with families to study various clinical and basic science aspects of dominantly inherited Alzheimer’s disease.

Amyloid plaque reducing clinical trials:

o   Two Randomized Phase 3 Studies of Aducanumab in Early Alzheimer's Disease (Haeberlein et al. 2022)

o   Donanemab in Early Symptomatic Alzheimer Disease - The TRAILBLAZER-ALZ 2 Randomized Clinical Trial (Sims et al. 2023)

o   Lecanemab in Early Alzheimer’s Disease (Van Duck et al. 2022)

Blood Biomarkers to Detect Alzheimer Disease in Primary Care and Secondary Car (Palmqvist et al. 2024)

o   Clinical research into a new phospo-tau biomarker that can help physicians more effectively diagnose Alzheimer’s disease

Resurrecting the Mysteries of Big Tau (Fischer and Baas 2021)

o   Review covering a potentially neuro-protective form of tau called “Big tau”

Integrated Proteomics to Understand the Role of Neuritin (NRN1) as a Mediator of Cognitive Resilience to Alzheimer’s Disease (Hurst et al. 2023)

o   Paper linking the NRN1 protein to cognitive resilience in Alzheimer’s

o   Nautilus blog post about this paper