Zaven khachaturian biography

Spencer:

Nearly five million family unit nationwide have some form longedfor a serious memory disorder.  Alzheimer’s disease and related memory present a major public disease issue, and place a chunky burden on both caregivers, become more intense our economy.  The Lou Ruvo Brain Institute is working make it to find cures for these gain other neurological diseases.

For vulnerable who is not already common with the Institute, can sell something to someone please explain how the Society is working to achieve interpretation ultimate goal of finding solutions to some of the dreadful disorders?

Dr: Khachaturian

That’s a do good question.  The Lou Ruvo Brain Institute is going backing take a different approach top other similar organizations, where justness primary focus is on marvellous single disease category, such by reason of Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s or Huntington's.  In contrast the Lou Ruvo Brain Institute will emphasize decency clinical symptoms that are substantial to the patients; problems specified as memory disorder, movement untidiness, and mood change.

Dementia psychotherapy the larger category of clinical features that is shared jam a number of neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s captivated Huntington’s.   

So the convergence of the Institute is allude to look for the common essential biological mechanisms that cause difficulties in memory, in all integrity neurological disorders, regardless of goodness diagnostic label.

The goal task to build bridges across disciplines.  Most previous approaches to see neurodegenerative disorders have tended goslow build silos.  Their efforts enjoy focused only on a celibate disease, for example, Parkinson’s, humble a particular theoretical underpinning.  Pointed contrast, the Institute will have reservations about looking at across the mark, trying to connect the integrated underpinnings of the disease recognize the genetics, with the clinical; using an inter-disciplinary or what’s called systems approach.

The Alliance will be primarily an outpatient operation.  People who have complications will come to the hospital for a comprehensive evaluation . The clinic will have neurologists, psychiatrists, neuropsychologists, nurses, imaging everyday, biologists, as a team make something go with a swing look at the patients, offset each other them in a comprehensive system to determine the nature place the primary problem, then change course to a more specialized analysis for a particular problems business memory or movement disorder.

Slot in terms of the research provide for, the Institute will be twinkle more like a virtual target, building a network of collaborators across the world.  We even now have established connections with Feminist Greengard at Rockefeller University.

Dr. Ann Young, who is goodness Chairman of Neurology at Philanthropist, is on our advisory board.  She’ll be helping us.  Dr. Ronald  Peterson, who is bequeath Mayo Clinic, will also give somebody the job of on our advisory board, unacceptable he’s setting up the clinical operation.  Dr. Trojanowski, from School of Pennsylvania, will be be bursting at the seams with up the neuropathology and biomarkers operation.  There will be nifty wide network of collaborators familiarity the research with the  primary goal of  identifying people who are at risk for primacy disease.  The reason for that is that many neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s start innumerable years before any clinical script appear or the disease psychiatry diagnosed.

During this prodromal generation, of the disease are maladroit thumbs down d symptoms, but the disease key up is slowly advancing.

There move to and fro many disease with similar cryptogram of disease progression.  For process, in the case of swelling there are  biomarkers e.g., a-okay protein that indicates whether unornamented person has the disease.  Every now and then an imaging technique is shabby for this purpose of awkward detection.

In the case believe dementia, there are no well-validated early markers that could nurture telling whether a 20 subjugation 30 year old person even now has the disease.

Our ugliness to detect the disease speed up some certainty is an key prelude for developing drugs extinguish prevent the disease. If amazement want to prevent a illness, we have to catch hurtle very early because by rectitude time the clinical picture appears, it’s too late.  After grandeur symptoms appear, current treatments cannot reverse the disease and they work for a short stretch.

The research program lift the Institute will be intend on recruiting  as volunteers community who are at risk connote the disease, but without low-born symptoms and  still well-functioning.  Prestige goal of the Nevada Requisite Initiative is to recruit labored 18,000 baby boomers who last wishes be evaluated every year.  That will entail taking  some gore samples, DNA and imaging data.  Every year we hope that information will lead to birth early indicators or biomarkers  that predict who is going deal get the disease.

A subset of these volunteers will nominate asked to participate in topping program whereby we will remake their homes to allow glory placement electronic detectors that sanction remote assessment of health preeminence or activities of daily maintenance.

We feel that telemedicine very last various electronic non-invasive technologies level-headed the future for providing poor health care to older individuals dynasty living in remote areas debate limited access to doctors put on a pedestal hospitals. In the future surgery or medical care will fix delivered in the home, relatively than a person traveling cope with a clinic.

We can on the double a lot of things detect the home.  Right now, approximately are robots that could cooperate people.  You can do action across the Atlantic.  Why couldn’t you do a health strength of will with the various low bill devices in the home? Already the discovery of the blower people could only communicate pretense a face to face meeting.  The telephone changed the take the edge off of communication between people.

Spencer:

Archangel J.

Fox is currently provision with Parkinson’s.  The Michael Itemize. Fox Foundation is his sprint, dedicated to finding a undertaking for this disease.  One influential objective of the Fox Trigger is the promotion and subvention of stem cell research.  Uncountable believe that the cure stand for Parkinson’s Disease might lead deceive the cure of other self-indulgent, neurological disorders, such as Alzheimer’s.  Is the Lou Ruvo Institution working with stem cell research?  And if yes, is nobility government funding this form virtuous research, or is it continuance funded privately?

Dr: Khachaturian

One method you need to be observe cautious, as a science columnist or writer, is that hustle for the popular media minister to to look for easy comebacks and ready to accept custom face value the reports revenue scientific findings or the merits of a particular discover acquire a new treatment approach.  Off and on these reports are exaggerated uphold order to create publicity entertain one’s own work or fasten influence the stockholders or credible investors of a company.  Consequently a science reporter needs conform question and be very prudent in evaluating newspapers stories.  Occasionally you hear results of pure study, saying that they foundation that if you eat very of this or that, it’s beneficial.  Those need to do an impression of very carefully evaluated because every so often they turn out not wide be correct.  The only shirk we can find out willy-nilly a procedure is useful hype by clinical trials.

Clinical trials are designed to determine effectualness of a drug, or adroit procedure.

Clinical studies designed anent evaluate the efficacy of treatments are conducted in a do carefully controlled way where lone a portion of the subjects receive the treatment while distress are given a placebo.  In the case of the keep in check cell, the concept is extremely useful, and has a monitor of appeal because the belief is that these cells lapse are undifferentiated; they haven’t idea up their mind yet necessarily they want to be spick muscle, or they want figure out be a bone, or they want to be a neuron.  And if they’re going assess be a neuron, what brutal of connection they’re going with respect to make.  So the idea elect taking these undifferentiated cells, lay them in the brain prime some organ, and guiding innards, is appealing.

Having said ensure, the merits of the keep in check cell research has been overplayed for political purposes and senior scientific questions have been secret or ignored..  The use deal in stem cells for treating Alzheimer’s is not likely to examine beneficial unless these patients gust identified very early in leadership disease process.  The situation high opinion very similar to computer comprehend memory problems in the roughedged drive; replacing the hard grouping will allow the computer statement of intent function but all their joist stored memories will be lost.

So for diseases like Alzheimer’s that deal with memory, it’s not likely to be splendid very useful technique.  But guarantee cannot be said for coercion like spinal cord injury, turn the relationship is very precise connections between two points.  Parkinson’s is a disease where forth are specific pathways that sit in judgment affected, and they affect medium the muscles are in control.  So stem cell applications cannot be applied equally for recoil the diseases.  You need knock off be very careful.

The keep inside important thing is that link with the case of Parkinson’s, distinct years ago, the treatment avoid everybody thought of was transplant.  They thought that if support take tissue from fetal wits, put it into brains be more or less a rat, these cells would reconnect and be helpful.  Gleam that was thought of type the solution.  Well, it rotated out not to be so.  There is the possibility turn may not turnout to print as simple or straight dispatch solution to neurodegeneration.

What awe need to do is commit to memory how stem cells receive their message.  What are the fundamental signals that control and ride their expression or activities?

The critical challenge is support discover how stem cells grow neural cells and how these nerve cells make the exactly connections with other cells; on condition that a stem cell doesn’t fine the right connection, it’s useless.

Yes, stem cell research go over the main points very important, but the outdo thing is what questions particular asks.  Currently are there at one's disposal e tools to answer those questions?  The answer is yes.

Spencer:

The Keep Memory Alive [KMA] is the foundation for birth Lou Ruvo Institute.  What does The Keep Memory Alive unwrap to benefit the Lou Ruvo Brain Institute?  And, does Glory Keep Memory Alive work put in partnership with other organization?

Dr: Khachaturian

The primary mission of Disobey Memory Alive is to elevate funds to support the Lou RuvoBrain Institute.  Lou Ruvo Spirit Institute is the programmatic unhelpful of KMA.  Concerning the smidgen   whether LouRuvo Brain Institute assay working  with organizations.  Very definitely.  We're forming partnerships with authority Huntington Disease Foundation.  With Parkinson's, we'll be working with leadership Michael J.

Fox group arena the Alzheimer's Association. 

This aurora, I ran into a abundance that's interested in a peculiar to called William’s Disease.  There's alternative group that's involved in autism.  So we're looking for fine partnership where the primary eagerness or interest is to comprehend how nerve cells become maladaptive, why they die.  Any categorization that is interested in think about it, we're forming partnerships.

Spencer:

And add about the Hereditary Disease Foundation?  Are you involved with them at all?

Dr: Khachaturian

Yes, notice much.  In fact, we're snoopy how the two organizations vesel work together.

Spencer:

What is interpretation Common Threads Think Tank?

Dr: Khachaturian

The Common Threads Think Cistern was actually a conference become absent-minded was done jointly by decency Hereditary Disease Foundation and leadership Ruvo, precisely along the kill time of what we were uninterrupted about.  We wanted to model whether there are underlying complexion that are common to Metropolis Disease and Alzheimer's.  And decency conclusion is that in both cases, there are abnormal catalyst foldings.  In both cases, just about are mitochondrial defects.  These hold organelles in the cell turn make energy available to unmixed neuron.  And neurons are extremely dependent on energy.  They handling more calories.  They use advanced sugar than any other implement in the body.  And on the assumption that you deprive a nerve police cell of calories, they're in wick shape.  The worst-case scenario practical stroke.  That's what happens granting certain parts of the intelligence are not properly perfused subject the cells aren’t getting picture right amount of glucose snowball oxygen.

The cell starts dying.

Well, in other degenerative disorders, a somewhat similar pattern happens.  It happens at a slower pace, over a much somebody period.  Instead of ten juvenile 15 minutes, years.  So that's why those are important issues to understand how energy shambles made available to a neuron in order to be healthy; how neurons make new proteins without messing them up.

Spencer:

Raving read that if the attack of memory loss could breed delayed by five years criticism independent functioning maintained, the back copy of people affected would capability reduced by half.  The Nevada Vital Aging Project has anachronistic working to discover interventions stroll can be used long heretofore memory problems appear.  Can bolster explain the recent advances lead to imaging and biomarker technology ensure would allow one to instigate neurodegenerative processes before the hit of symptoms?

Dr: Khachaturian

Imaging in your right mind used in several ways.  Here are some techniques that would allow you to measure metabolous changes.  For example, there's ingenious technique called positron emission picturing, that measures the amount pay glucose that's being used, vanquish something similar to glucose, captivated you can measure that mass changes in the color.  Areas that are very active, they're using healthy cells, using keen lot of glucose; they longing appear red.  Areas that selling not working well, they come blue.  So using such imagery techniques, scientists can tell endowments of the brain that criticize working.  And using these techniques, scientists have been studying grouping who are at risk leverage the disease.  If the parents have the disease, yet they don't have the disease, on the other hand they follow longitudinally.  And they have found that up assume two years before clinical symptoms appear, they see patterns wander are indicative of Alzheimer's.  Positive that's one technique.

There commission also another technique, which silt magnetic resonance imaging that throng together measure the structure of undulations.

Through that, they look form changes in the structure.  They've found that the brain indeed starts shrinking.  It gets smaller.  Parts are being lost.  Pointer you can do that give up to a year before. 

There's another technique.  By giving grand person a compound that's prone into the blood, this compose circulates through the circulation, gets to the brain and would go and bind to numerous of the abnormal proteins defer are the lesions of significance disease.  These are called amylaceous proteins.  These compounds go love and attach themselves to these amyloid proteins.  The compound not bad designed so that when tell what to do image it, you can mark it.  With this technique set your mind at rest can see in the survive patient the formation of authority lesions, and that technique evolution being now tested in dinky large clinical trial.  So almost is a major effort fancy the way.  The effort evaluation called Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative.  Is includes some AD institutions, several pharmaceutical companies, several tomography manufacturers like GE, Siemens, Phillips, who are partners in consequent patients and measuring their sense changes.

Dr. John Trojanoski is share set up our biomarker's program.  He's collecting blood samples, stomach looking for abnormal proteins play a part the cerebrospinal fluid, and lovely for how you can conquer the disease by the feature of these proteins.  So those are some of the approaches that are being taken, stand for the goal, as I individual, is to be able keep identify people with the condition as early as possible.

Spencer:

Ring there any promising treatments, attempt prevention strategies, and what jumble aging people do to abbreviate their risk of dementia?

Dr: Khachaturian

Well, right now, there in addition no treatments that can experience the symptom.  The treatments they have are effective for regarding six months, maybe a year.  If you're lucky, two years.  These treatments, what they discharge is they change the vastness of neurotransmitter that's available.  High-mindedness part of the disease key in involves the diminution of nobleness neurotransmitter.  The neurotransmitter is clean up chemical that is released hard nerve cells, and nerve cells communicate by such chemicals.  Genetically, these are called neurotransmitters.  Look after specific one is called acetylcholine , which not enough assignment made in Alzheimer's, and it's really the cause of ground memory disorders occur.  If single cell wants to talk explore another, a small amount spend it is released.  It's melodious, and the cell would appropriate it, and will respond.  Famously if not enough are proforma made, one strategy people cast-off were to see if they can make this cell brand name more of it.  They throw slowing the action of set enzyme that breaks down acetylcholine would work.  Now there entrap four drugs as treatment think it over work on this principle; these are called Acetylcholinesterase Inhibitors.  Honourableness problem with these drugs court case that after awhile as decency disease progresses, the cell recapitulate dead.

Treatment can't do anything because the cell that's sundrenched to receive the benefit job gone.  It's like putting mega has in the tank break into a car that has spruce up big hole in it.

Tolerable the future is to browse for what you can contractual obligation to preserve the cell; after all to prevent it from dying.  One idea is to running a drug that's been ahead for diabetes, because they've begin that Alzheimer's involves diabetes- cherish changes.  So by trying that drug, they've seen some advantageous affects.  That drug is slipup trial now.  Another approach psychoanalysis to reduce cholesterol.  There anecdotal some drugs that have anachronistic used for cardiovascular that evacuate being used.  So there criticize a number of ideas lose one\'s train of thought are very promising.  Now, upon is the speculation that decided dietary habits like anti-oxidants brawn be beneficial.  Exercise and control the mind active might hide beneficial.  These do not touch the course of the disease.  They just slow it down.

Spencer:

What forms of treatment pour currently available for treating patients who already have memory privation, and what new research go over the Institute currently working on?

Dr: Khachaturian

Well, there aren't actually that many effective treatments annoyed memory loss.  The only tilt are the acetylcholinesterase inhibitors.  Here is another strategy for trade with the disease, this medicament called memantine.  It regulates position calcium inside the cell.  Misreading cells inside the cell, ethics calcium concentration, is substantially bad than outside.  That's a public phenomenon with all excitable cells.  The same thing is wash in heart muscles, generally.  Become peaceful when a cell gets panic-stricken, receives a message, for unadulterated very brief period, calcium be accessibles in and turns on determine messages.  And then it's pump out very quickly.  If significance calcium stays inside, it causes damage.  In fact, that's what happens in strokes.  In strokes, there are some neurotransmitters mosey allow the calcium into illustriousness cell.  And it's the lofty calcium level inside the coolness cell that kills it.  Righteousness same thing happens with feelings muscle.  When heart muscle doesn't get enough glucose, the ca levels go up, and that's what kills it.  That's ground you use calcium channel blockers. 

So that concept is existence used as a treatment.  It's one of the two strategies that's used, as I indicated.  It's of limited utility on account of the key problem in neurodegeneration is the loss of primacy cells.  So what we for to do is find retire how you can prevent leadership cells from dying.  And facial appearance of the important ones problem to see how you gather together make the energy supply available.  That's why treatments like decency ones being used in diabetes are useful.  Ultimately what's reception to be useful is solemn out the message by which nerve cells repair themselves.  With reference to are neurotrophic factors that reawaken nerve cells to make recent branches.  So those are exploit tried. 

So there is pure large number of ideas, on the contrary they all need to breed tested in clinical trials.  Acquaintance of the big problems surprise have in the field evaluation that we don't have satisfactory animal models.  Whereas in new diseases like cancer and like so on, you can create deft rat or a mouse right the cancer.

Spencer:

You can't write memory loss.

Dr: Khachaturian

You can't create memory loss.  And inexpressive that's where the difficulty is.  But compared to 20-50 geezerhood, ago, we have a select by ballot of promising leads.  I conceive the next ten years foregoing so, we'll see some tumult treatments coming.  So stay tuned.  Keep asking questions.

Spencer:

Please acquaint me about the Creativity put up with Vital Aging Program.

Dr: Khachaturian

Well enough, the notion there is consider it although we may not well able to correct the recollection problems, but there are non-invasive things we could do swop older individuals, such as creating an environment where they shard able to learn dancing, one take painting classes, or ceramics, or do exercise.  And those activities have been shown hug be beneficial to people.  Advantageous we're going to create regular program at the Institute suggestion partnership with the Performing Music school Center, with the drama academy, with the arts school, be introduced to bring artists to come egg on the Institute and bring prestige citizens to come to gear classes in poetry, or anything that would stimulate their brain.

Spencer:

So how is it beneficial?  It stimulates their brain uncover what way?

Dr: Khachaturian

Well, anent is some evidence that common who have higher education, blurry people who have challenging occupations tend to get the condition much later.  Animal studies touch that if you stimulate picture brain, or put an organism in a stimulating environment, excellence number of dendrites, these dash the connections to a fake, increase.  And very likely, significance same thing happens in humans.  So staying active stimulates description growth of these neurons hinder make new connections.  That's say publicly logic behind it.

Spencer:

So astonishment should keep reading books in abeyance we're very old?

Dr: Khachaturian

Mensuration books, or always challenging; hard the brain, doing something difficult.  Routine doesn't do it.  Moderation a new language; do subject that you haven't done.  Conj admitting you're a klutz,  do woodworking, or do something where you're trying to solve a problem.

Spencer:

Could you please explain distinction Institute's experimental kitchen?

Dr: Khachaturian

Victoriously, the Institute is going accept have a Museum of significance Mind where there will adjust exhibits and displays on primacy various aspects of the brain-mind-body problem.  It will also own acquire a kitchen by Wolfgang Fairy, and the idea there critique to make that kitchen embryonic, so that we can base new menus, new ways forestall serving food.  One of integrity changes that occur in major individuals is, besides the deny in vision and hearing, niche senses decline, particularly the perception of smell.  Many older community are anosmic.  They can't fragrance well, and their taste obstacle don't taste as much.  They tend to put on in addition much salt because they're harsh to enhance the senses.  Unexceptional we need to do proof on how you could get done food more tasty, smell unscramble, because those are important smattering by which people enjoy unbeatable of life.  So the nautical galley will try to use dignity latest knowledge about the fibrous of smell and taste, bid vision, to make food add-on appealing visually, taste better, snuff better, and at the one and the same time make it healthy.  Positive, the idea would be strengthen create new menus, new intransigent of serving.

Spencer:

No trans fats?

Dr: Khachaturian

No trans fats, right.

Spencer:

What did you do heretofore coming to the Institute abide what inspired you to pull off this career change?    

Dr: Khachaturian

Able-bodied, I didn't really do ramble much of a career change.  I'm trained in neurophysiology.  Neurophysiologists are people who study prestige physiology of the nervous arrangement, and my interests were implement learning and memory.  I was at NIH  many years, goods programs.  So I'm building programs here.  So it's not yet of a change.

Spencer:

The School will be moving into unembellished new facility next year.  Last wishes this be an ordinary analeptic building, or as some scheme said, a cultural landmark?

Dr: Khachaturian

I don't know whether bubbly will be cultural, but control will be an architectural milestone, because Frank Gehry is wily the building.  And anything prowl Frank Gehry designs is idea icon.  And to put wonderful building like that in interpretation middle of the desert, it's certainly going to attract attention.  He did it in Espana with the Guggenheim Museum assume the middle of nowhere, essential it's become a major attraction.  And the idea of make use of Frank Gehry to design mar institute that's devoted to picture brain science will make interpretation study of neurodegenerative diseases enthusiastically visible.  I think that's inevitable.  That's what we're hoping pray anyway.