News and Announcements

A new Northwestern Medicine study has uncovered key molecular design principles that could help supramolecular therapeutics cross the blood-brain barrier, a major challenge for the novel approach to treating neurological disorders.

Faculty, clinicians, investigators and community members gathered on May 19 for Alzheimer Day, an annual conference dedicated to advancing understanding of dementia and connecting cutting-edge research with patients and families.

The post Alzheimer Day Highlights Research Advances and Community Engagement  appeared first on News Center.

A new computational method could dramatically accelerate efforts to map the body’s cells in space, according to a study published in Nature Genetics.

A global team of scientists has uncovered a new genetic risk factor for a rare and aggressive form of early-onset dementia, according to a study published in Nature Genetics.

The post Uncovering a Genetic Driver of Rare Early-Onset Dementia  appeared first on News Center.

Northwestern Medicine scientists have discovered an FDA-approved compound promotes neuroprotective effects in experimental models of Parkinson’s disease, according to a recent study published in The Journal of Clinical Investigation.

New research shows that the brains of “SuperAgers” continue to generate new neurons in the hippocampus at levels far higher than typical older adults, and even much younger individuals.

The post As Superagers Age, They Make at Least Twice as Many New Neurons as Their Peers appeared first on News Center.

Northwestern University scientists have pinpointed when and where toxic proteins accumulate within the brains of Alzheimer’s patients — and discovered a decades-old Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved drug that can stop the accumulation process before it even begins, according to a recent study published in Science Translational Medicine.

Northwestern University has launched the Simpson Querrey Brain Health Institute (SQ-Brain), made possible by nearly $25 million in philanthropic funding from university trustee Kimberly K. Querrey.

The post New Institute Envisions Future Where Our Brains Last as Long as Our Bodies appeared first on News Center.

Northwestern Medicine scientists have zeroed in on a cellular gatekeeper that may hold promise for treating abnormal protein accumulation in neurodegenerative diseases, according to a study published in Nature Communications. 

Feinberg experienced a year of discovery and scientific achievement in 2025, from honors and awards to unprecedented research discoveries.

In a new study, scientists have identified a previously unknown driver of Alzheimer’s disease, and an experimental drug developed at Northwestern University has demonstrated further promise as an early intervention to treat the disease.

This year, the Breakthroughs podcast released 17 episodes on topics including improvements in mental healthcare delivery, precision medicine therapies for rare diseases, an introduction to bedside medicine and much more.

Northwestern scientists, clinicians and people living with ALS gathered to learn about the latest research and celebrate advancements in patient care during the 15th annual Les Turner Symposium on ALS held at Northwestern Memorial Hospital on November 3.

A new approach from the field of ophthalmology shows promise in detecting non-invasive biomarkers of mild cognitive impairment, the precursor to Alzheimer’s disease. Northwestern’s Amani Fawzi, MD, explains.

Music-based medical interventions can have remarkable therapeutic benefits for patients diagnosed with cognitive impairments such as Alzheimer’s disease, dementia and aphasia. Neurologist Borna Bonakdarpour, MD, explains how he is using and studying these clinical interventions through the new Northwestern Music and Medicine Program.

With a new $20 million grant from the National Institute on Aging, Northwestern Medicine investigator, Linda Teplin, PhD, is extending the work of the Northwestern Juvenile Project to study the long-term consequences of incarceration on age-related conditions, including Alzheimer’s and other age-related diseases. This project is the only large-scale longitudinal study of its kind tracking health and outcomes of detained juveniles in the years following their release.

For decades, Marcus Peter, PhD, has drilled into an area of research focused on cell death and the roles of toxic and protective short RNAs, with the goal of developing a novel form of cancer treatment. Now, this same line of research has led Peter’s team to uncover new insights into the cause of Alzheimer’s disease. In this episode, Peter explains his pioneering work in investigating RNA interference in diseases and explains how his lab’s latest novel discovery may have relevance to an array of neurodegenerative diseases beyond Alzheimer’s.

An experimental drug called NU-9 was invented at Northwestern University by Richard Silverman, PhD. It has been approved for clinical trials for the treatment of ALS and found to improves neuron health in animal models of Alzheimer’s disease according to a new Northwestern Medicine study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

This discovery is giving scientists hope that the drug could be effective in multiple neurodegenerative diseases by addressing the underlying mechanisms of these diseases. Silverman and Northwestern University Alzheimer’s disease expert, William Klein, PhD, discuss the potential of NU-9 in this episode.

A Northwestern Medicine study published in Nature Medicine used a new technique called spatial transcriptomics to examine the brain’s response to Alzheimer’s therapies, revealing new molecular targets that could enhance the effectiveness of current therapies and not just slow the disease, but potentially improve patient outcomes. David Gate, PhD, assistant professor of Neurology in the Ken and Ruth Davee Department of Neurology and director of the Abrams Research Center on Neurogenomics, led this research.

A new Northwestern Medicine study has uncovered a surprising molecular link between HIV-1 and a protein fragment associated with Alzheimer’s disease, according to findings published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Northwestern scientists have discovered that the organization of a cell’s genetic material dictates cancer’s ability to adapt, according to a recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Over a quarter-century of research, Northwestern scientists have been studying individuals over eighty with memory capacity of people at least three decades younger, to identify the biological and behavioral traits associated with “SuperAging.”

The post What Makes a SuperAger? appeared first on News Center.

An artificial intelligence-based imaging approach may be an effective tool for distinguishing patients with Parkinson’s disease from those with other closely related diseases sooner than current methods, according to a recent study published in JAMA Neurology.

The post AI Imaging Approach May Help Identify Parkinson’s Sooner appeared first on News Center.

Scientists have developed a new method to track changes in synaptic protein lifetimes across the entire brain, according to a study published in Nature Neuroscience.

A compound found in the gut may reduce some of the manifestations of Alzheimer’s disease, according to a Northwestern Medicine study published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

The post Compound Produced by Gut Bacteria May Slow Alzheimer’s Progression appeared first on News Center.

Patients and families joined faculty, students and trainees on May 15 for Alzheimer Day, an annual event hosted by the Mesulam Center for Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer’s Disease to showcase dementia and aging research conducted throughout Northwestern and bring those discoveries to the community.

The post Advancing Research and Care at Alzheimer Day appeared first on News Center.

More than seven million Americans aged 65 years and older currently live with Alzheimer’s disease, according to recent estimates from the Alzheimer’s Association. As the prevalence of the disease increases, so does the need for research that identifies underlying mechanisms of disease to enhance the effectiveness of current therapies and inform new therapeutic strategies.

The post Pioneering New Techniques in the Fight Against Alzheimer’s Disease appeared first on News Center.

Northwestern University Trustee Kimberly K. Querrey has made a $10 million gift to create and enhance the Querrey Simpson Institute for Regenerative Engineering at Northwestern University.

The post Northwestern Launches Pioneering Medical Research Institute With $10 Million Gift From Trustee Kimberly Querrey, Bringing Her Total University Giving to $391 Million appeared first on News Center.

A small-molecule compound developed by Northwestern scientists improves neuron health in animal models of Alzheimer’s disease, according to a new study published in PNAS.

A new Northwestern Medicine study published in Science has identified a new set of genes that contribute to the risk of Parkinson’s disease, opening the door to previously untapped drug targets for treating the disease.