Managing Obesity

Brown researchers are leading a national effort to better understand dementia and provide improved treatment.

BY MAURA SULLIVAN HILL

tephen Salloway still remembers the day his grandmother moved into his childhood bedroom. No longer able to live S alone because of her increasing dementia symptoms, she needed full-time care. The only extra bed in the house was in his room, so he saw the impact of the disease up close, as his family became her primary caregivers and he became her roommate. “I saw what dementia was like, and the effect it had on our family. There is a grandmother’s story lurking in the background for many Alzheimer’s researchers,” said Salloway, now a neurologist and professor of psychiatry and human behavior at Brown’s Warren Alpert Medical School. With more than 5.6 million Americans aged 65 and older living with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia, the impact of the disease is widespread, and the need for new interventions and treatment is urgent. Dementia is an umbrella term for diseases that cause a decline in

Different types of sensory neurons are being studied at Brown as a way to discover and test molecules to prevent neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s.

SYDNEY VAUGHAN/VALDEZ LAB/BROWN UNIVERSITY