The Institute for the Study of Aging (ISOA) Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Award for 2003 was awarded to Dr. Marta Weinstock of Hebrew University. The award, announced on September 16th, includes a prize of $100,000 and is given to a scientist whose innovative research has made a significant impact on the discovery and development of new medicines for Alzheimer’s disease.
The award went to Dr. Weinstock in recognition of her work in the mid-1980s, when she and her colleagues at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem prepared and tested a new series of cognition enhancing drugs known as acetylcholinesterase inhibitors. One of the inhibitors, rivastigmine, was further developed and marketed worldwide for Alzheimer's disease by Novartis Pharmaceuticals under the trade name Exelon. As reported by Atid-EDI’s Fortnightly Report, Dr. Weinstock is currently collaborating with scientists from the Technion in Haifa, Israel and Teva Pharmaceuticals to develop a novel bi-functional drug for Alzheimer's disease.
In a related development, a novel method for monitoring the effects and treatment of Alzheimer’s and other memory disorders has been developed by Israeli and American researchers. The subject patients are instructed to play video games while wearing sensors on their scalps.
As reported by Israel21c.org, Professor Itzhak Fried, of the neurology departments at University of California, Los Angeles, and Tel Aviv University and director of the functional neurosurgery unit at Tel Aviv's Ichilov Hospital, headed the team which developed the monitoring methodology. It involves the use of a video game featuring a yellow taxi, a virtual city and virtual fares who desire to arrive at a designated point. By monitoring the human players’ brain activity during play, the researchers discovered how three types of brain cells interact to help people navigate the real world and offered unique information about how memory works.
The research team’s findings appeared in the latest issue of the journal Nature.
The award went to Dr. Weinstock in recognition of her work in the mid-1980s, when she and her colleagues at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem prepared and tested a new series of cognition enhancing drugs known as acetylcholinesterase inhibitors. One of the inhibitors, rivastigmine, was further developed and marketed worldwide for Alzheimer's disease by Novartis Pharmaceuticals under the trade name Exelon. As reported by Atid-EDI’s Fortnightly Report, Dr. Weinstock is currently collaborating with scientists from the Technion in Haifa, Israel and Teva Pharmaceuticals to develop a novel bi-functional drug for Alzheimer's disease.
In a related development, a novel method for monitoring the effects and treatment of Alzheimer’s and other memory disorders has been developed by Israeli and American researchers. The subject patients are instructed to play video games while wearing sensors on their scalps.
As reported by Israel21c.org, Professor Itzhak Fried, of the neurology departments at University of California, Los Angeles, and Tel Aviv University and director of the functional neurosurgery unit at Tel Aviv's Ichilov Hospital, headed the team which developed the monitoring methodology. It involves the use of a video game featuring a yellow taxi, a virtual city and virtual fares who desire to arrive at a designated point. By monitoring the human players’ brain activity during play, the researchers discovered how three types of brain cells interact to help people navigate the real world and offered unique information about how memory works.
The research team’s findings appeared in the latest issue of the journal Nature.