CLEVELAND ADRC - Key Persons

Job Titles:

• Certified Psychiatrist
• Director, Neurotherapeutic Discovery, Harrington Discovery Institute, University Hospitals
• Translational Therapeutics Core Leader

Andrew Pieper is a board-certified psychiatrist and neuroscientist in the Department of Psychiatry at Case Western Reserve University and University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, where he serves as Morley Mather Chair in Neuropsychiatry. He also serves as Psychiatrist at the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center (VAMC), as well as Investigator in the University Hospitals Harrington Discovery Institute, where he is the Director of Neurotherapeutic Discovery. Pieper is devoted to patient care and basic science research applied to disease, most keenly focused on neurodegeneration. Clinically, he maintains an active Adult Psychiatry Outpatient Clinic at the VAMC. His goal is to understand and investigate human disorders in order to foster development of new pharmacologic treatments for patients.

Job Titles:

• Associate Professor of Neurology
• Director, National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center / Associate Professor of Neurology, Psychiatry and Pathology, Case Western Reserve University / Medical Director, CJD Foundation
• Neuropathology Core Co - Leader

Dr. Appleby is an Associate Professor of Neurology, Psychiatry, and Pathology at Case Western Reserve University. Dr. Appleby received a B.A. in biology and philosophy from Goucher College and a M.D. from Georgetown University School of Medicine. He completed a psychiatry residency and geriatric psychiatry fellowship at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. He currently serves as the Director of the National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center, as Medical Director of the CJD Foundation, and Chair of the Cleveland Alzheimer's Association Chapter's Professional Advisory Board. He sees patients at University Hospitals Foley Elderhealth Center. His research and clinical interests include young onset and atypical dementias, specifically prion diseases and frontotemporal lobar degeneration. Dr. Appleby has several projects examining the clinical and translational aspects of prion diseases. In particular, he is interested in improving diagnosis, developing diagnostic tests and biomarkers, and surveilling for novel prion diseases (e.g., possible chronic wasting disease in humans). He is also a site principle investigator for Advancing Research and Treatment for Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration (ARTFL), a multisite study for clinical research in frontotemporal lobar degeneration.

Job Titles:

• Clinical Core Leader
• Director, Brain Health and Memory Center, Neurological Endowed Chair in Memory and Cognition

Dr. Alan J. Lerner is originally from Long Island and he obtained his undergraduate degree from the New York State College of Agriculture and Life Science at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY and M.D. from the Cornell University Medical School in New York City. He completed an internship in Internal Medicine at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. He then completed a Residency in Neurology (1988-1991) and Fellowship in Behavioral Neurology at University Hospitals and Case Western Reserve University (1991-1993). He is currently a Neurologist at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center. He holds the Neurological Institute endowed chair in memory and cognition, and is Professor of Neurology in the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. Dr. Lerner is a Behavioral Neurologist with almost three decades experience in treating memory disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, Frontotemporal dementia, and related disorders. He is active in conducting clinical research studies focusing on new diagnostics and treatments for Alzheimer's disease, and other dementias. Current studies include new dementia prevention studies both by risk factor reduction and use of experimental medications. Dr. Lerner also leads the clinical core of the Cleveland Alzheimer's disease Research center, a collaborative effort of Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Case Western Reserve, the Cleveland VA medical center and University Hospitals. The Cleveland AD research center focuses on the heterogeneity of dementia and is supported by the National Institute of Aging, and is one of 33 such centers in the United States. He has written published extensively in the areas of general Neurology, Alzheimer's disease and other dementias.

Job Titles:

• Co - Leader
• Neuroimaging Core Co - Leader

Dr. DiFilippo is a physics graduate of Case Western Reserve University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. After working in industry, he joined the Cleveland Clinic in 2002 as a clinical nuclear medicine physicist. Among many topics, his research has included characterizing the performance of PET and SPECT imaging systems and exploring their limits of spatial resolution. He serves as principal investigator of a micro-PET/CT instrument funded by a recent NIH S10 grant award. As co-leader of the Neuroimaging Core, Dr. DiFilippo directs the acquisition and data analysis of PET imaging for the Cleveland Alzheimer's Disease Research Center (CADRC). One goal of PET imaging is to quantify the accumulation of Ab-amyloid protein in the brain. These data will be used by the CADRC team to more accurately study the progression and treatment of Alzheimer's disease.

Job Titles:

• Administrative Core Leader
• Director, Cleveland Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health

Dr. Leverenz joined the Cleveland Clinic in 2014, assuming the directorship of the Cleveland Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health and the Joseph Hahn MD Endowed Chair of the Neurological Institute at the Cleveland Clinic. He obtained his undergraduate and medical education at the University of Washington. He has post-graduate training in neurology from the New York Hospital/Cornell Medical Center and neuropathology from the University of Chicago. His primary clinical and research interests are the aging-associated neurological disorders including Alzheimer's disease, dementia with Lewy bodies, and Parkinson's disease. He serves on the board of directors and professional advisory board for the Cleveland Chapter of the Alzheimer's Association and is on the scientific advisory council for the Lewy Body Dementia Association (Chair from 2009 to 2018). Currently he is the principal investigator for the National Institute of Health funded Dementia with Lewy Body Consortium and a principal or co-investigator on projects funded by the Alzheimer's Association, Department of Defense, Lewy Body Dementia Association, and Michael J Fox Foundation.

Job Titles:

• Data Management and Statistics Core Leader

Jonathan Haines, PhD, is an internationally recognized researcher and educator with extensive experience in all aspects of genetic epidemiology, with a particular focus on data analytics. He has applied his exper tise to numer ous neu ro log i cal and oph thal mo log i cal dis or ders, and is credited with locating more than 20 causal and 200 asso ci ated genetic loci. He has led or collaborated on numerous national and international genetic epidemiology studies, lending his expertise to defining the genetic architecture of aging diseases including macular degeneration and Alzheimer's Disease. He advocates for diversity in genetic sampling and a comprehensive view of data analytics, recognizing that environmental and social impacts can inform genetic expression and biomedical outcomes. By applying sophisticated, com pu ta tional meth ods to diverse, large data sets, he seeks to uncover contributing factors to disease and chronic conditions to inform how patients are cared for clinically and how communities shape healthy environments that support personal choices. Dr. Haines is the Mary W. Shel don M.D. Pro fes sor of Genomic Sci ences and Chair of the Depart ment of Population and Quantitative Health Sciences at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, which also is the administrative home of the Cleveland Insti tute for Com pu ta tional Biol ogy, which he founded and directs. The Institute is a collaboration among Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, University Hospitals Cleveland, and the Cleveland Clinic. The Institute collaborates with health systems to lead data analytics based on hundreds of thousands of electronic health records to inform best practices in clinical care. Institute principals also collaborate with researchers beyond Cleveland, lending expertise in complex analytics that integrate genetic, biomedical and population health data to inform patient and community care. Dr. Haines serves on multiple advisory councils and is on the editorial board or reviews for numerous journals. Among his current appointments: NIH's National Advisory Council for Human Genome Research, the Scientific Advisory Panel to NIH's National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) Genome Sequencing Program, Board of Directors for the National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD), and Executive Committee of the Alzheimer's Disease Sequencing Project, supported by NIH's National Institute on Aging. Among the journal editorial boards on which he serves are Neurogenetics, Human Molecular Genetics, and Nature Genomic Medicine. Dr. Haines has held many academic appointments, beginning his early career at Harvard Medical School. He was a Professor of Molecular Physiology & Biophysics at the Vanderbilt School of Medicine with joint appointments in several departments, including as Chief of the Division of Human Genomics, and founding director of the Center for Human Genetics Research. His academic appointments in addition to serving as Chair of the Department of Population and Quantitative Health Sciences at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine include professorships with the Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences and the Department of Genetics and Genome Sciences, as well as an appointment with the Lerner Research Institute at Cleveland Clinic.

Job Titles:

• Endowed Chair of the Neurological Institute Cleveland Clinic

Job Titles:

• Biomarker Core Leader

Dr. Bekris is a molecular biologist trained at the University of Washington. She is currently Associate Staff at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute Genomic Medicine Department and Assistant Professor of Molecular Medicine with the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University. She is also affiliate assistant professor with Kent State University Biomedical Department. Dr. Bekris' research focuses on identifying and characterizing the functional impact of genetic and epigenetic factors on biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative diseases. Alzheimer's disease biomarker research is a critical component in the development of neurodegenerative disease therapeutics.

Job Titles:

• Director, High Field MRI
• Neuroimaging Core Leader

Dr. Lowe received his PhD in high-energy physics from the University of Minnesota. In 1994, he joined the University of Wisconsin-Madison as a post-doctoral fellow in MRI physics. Dr. Lowe joined the Imaging Institute of Cleveland Clinic in 2003 as the Director of High-Field MRI. He is Professor of Radiology and heads the Imaging Sciences section of the Imaging Institute. Dr. Lowe's research interests are developing MRI-based techniques to study brain network connectivity and the application of those methods to both basic neuroscience as well as clinical research.

Job Titles:

• Co - Director, National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center / Professor of Pathology and Neurology, University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center
• Neuropathology Core Leader

After graduating from Cornell University College of Arts and Sciences and Medical School, Dr. Cohen became board-certified in Anatomic, Clinical, and Neuropathology at University Hospitals of Cleveland, where he is now Professor of Pathology and Neurology as well as Co-Director of the National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center. He has extensive experience evaluating and characterizing neurodegenerative pathology. He has a special interest in prion disease and rpAD. Dr. Cohen has broad experience in neuroanatomy, immunohistochemistry, and neurochemistry with over 30 years of experience in the neuropathology of neurodegenerative disorders. He will oversee all activities of the Neuropathology Core (NPC) and will be responsible for all histological & immunohistochemical evaluation of brain samples in the NPC of CADRC. He will analyze all neurohistological and immunohistochemical stains, and will review all tissue sections used for publications.

Job Titles:

• Director, Neurological and Behavioral Outcomes Center, Case Western Reserve University and University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center
• Professor of Psychiatry and of Neurology

Dr. Sajatovic is Professor of Psychiatry and of Neurology at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine (CWRU) in Cleveland, Ohio. She is a researcher, educator, and clinician who has devoted herself to the study and treatment of traditionally hard-to-treat populations with central nervous system disorders. Dr. Sajatovic holds the Willard Brown Chair in Neurological Outcomes at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center (UHCMC) and directs the Neurological and Behavioral Outcomes Center at UHCMC/CWRU. She has subspecialty certification in Behavioral Neurology & Neuropsychiatry. Dr. Sajatovic has been a guest lecturer at numerous academic and community settings, both on a national and international level, including speaking to consumer and family advocacy groups for individuals with psychiatric illness. Dr. Sajatovic has been a recipient of the Exemplary Psychiatrist Award bestowed by the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI), was a Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA) 2006 Gerald Klerman Investigator Award winner in 2006 and in 2016 and in 2018 received the Rebecca Goldberg Kaufman American Epilepsy Society (AES) Clinical Award in Ethical Neuropsychiatry.

Job Titles:

• Professor of Genomic Sciences, School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University

Job Titles:

• Chairman, Neuropsychiatry, University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center

Job Titles:

• Chairman, Neurological Outcomes, University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center

Job Titles:

• Professor of Pathology
• Research Education Component Leader

Dr. Zhu is Professor of Pathology and of Neurology at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine (CWRU) in Cleveland, Ohio. He is a researcher, and educator who has devoted himself to the study of pathogenic mechanism underlying Alzheimer's disease and related neurodegenerative diseases. He is the Director of Pathology Graduate Program at Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, CWRU and Director of NIH-sponsored Neurodegenerative Disease T32 Training Grant. Dr. Zhu has been a guest lecturer at numerous academic and community settings, both on a national and international level. He is an active editorial member for more than ten reputable international journals in the field of neuroscience and neurodegeneration and is currently Deputy Chief Editor for Journal of Alzheimer's Disease and Journal of Neurochemistry. He routinely reviews grant applications for National Institute of Health (NIH), NASA, Veteran Health Administration (VA), Department of Defense (DOD) and other national and international funding organizations.