Toshiya Yamada Lecture 2015: Role of Tau and amyloid in Alzheimer's disease
Description
In Alzheimer's disease (AD), genetic and biochemical data have established a crucial role for the amyloid-β (Aβ) peptide that forms extracellular deposits known as amyloid plaques. A second key player in AD is the microtubule-associated protein Tau that forms intracellular deposits referred to as neurofibrillary tangles. My laboratory has contributed to an understanding at the molecular level of how these two molecules, both separately and synergistically, impair neuronal functions. At present AD cannot be cured. From a therapeutic point of view, both Tau and Aβ have been recognized as attractive targets interventions, although Tau is lagging behind Aβ therapies. In my lecture, I will talk about our work on understanding tau and Aβ toxicity; I will also present novel approaches of reducing Aβ and tau pathology in mice, by combining therapeutic agents with a novel ultrasound-based delivery method.
Speaker
Professor Jürgen Götz is the Foundation Chair of Dementia Research and Director of the Clem Jones Centre for Ageing Dementia Research (CJCADR) at the Queensland Brain Institute (QBI), The University of Queensland. Götz studied biochemistry at the University of Basel, and earned his PhD in immunology in the laboratory of Nobel Laureate Georges Köhler at the Max-Planck-Institute in Freiburg, Germany. After postdoctoral work at UCSF and the Preclinical Research Division at Novartis Ltd in Basel, he established his reputation in the Alzheimer's field as a research group leader at the University of Zürich (1994-2005). In 2005, he was recruited as Chair of Molecular Biology to the University of Sydney, until taking up his new position at the University of Queensland in 2012. A major focus of the laboratory is the generation and analysis of transgenic animal models to gain a better mechanistic understanding of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. He and his team use these animal models to develop therapeutic interventions targeting two key molecules in disease, tau and amyloid-beta. Professor Götz has authored more than 140 articles in leading journals in the field.
About Toshiya Yamada Memorial Lecture
The Toshiya Yamada Memorial lecture was established in memory of Dr Toshi Yamada, an internationally renowned research scientist from the Institute for Molecular Bioscience. Dr Yamada's discovery of the molecules essential for regulating the correct wiring of the spinal cord and parts of the brain form much of the basis of modern neurobiology and was instrumental in the resurgence of Australia as a world leader in this field.
This free public lecture is held annually and is an opportunity to honour Dr Yamada's memory and to celebrate his scientific achievements. The Institute for Molecular Bioscience and the Queensland Brain Institute, both at The University of Queensland, jointly host this prestigious lecture.