Physician-scientist Dr. Allan Levey of Emory University will share his perspective on “Racing to a Cure for Alzheimer’s Disease”
USF Health Research Day 2020 – Friday, Feb 21, in the USF Marshall Student Center — is right around the corner. The annual event showcases the best scientific work of students, residents, and postdoctoral scholars across all four USF Health colleges, as well as biomedical science-related collaborations with other USF colleges and several hospital affiliates.
Roy H. Behnke Keynote speaker Allan Levey, MD, PhD, professor and chair at Emory University’s Department of Neurology, will share his outlook on Racing to a Cure for Alzheimer’s Disease, beginning at 9 a.m. Dr. Levey, a neurologist and neuroscientist, is internationally recognized for his work in neurodegenerative diseases. He directs Emory’s Goizueta Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center and co-leads a National Institutes of Health-funded, multi-institutional Open Drug Discovery Center for Alzheimer’s Disease dedicated to advancing and diversifying the pipeline for innovative therapeutics.
No cure or treatment to address the root cause of Alzheimer’s disease currently exists. Research has taken on increased urgency in the wake of recent failures of investigational Alzheimer’s drugs from major pharmaceutical companies to halt or slow brain degeneration.
“At USF Health we have a strategic focus on trying to find the underlying basis and treatments and a cure for Alzheimer’s disease, so it’s very appropriate this year for our speaker to be an expert in Alzheimer’s and related neurodegenerative diseases,” said Stephen Liggett, MD, vice dean for research and professor of internal medicine, molecular pharmacology and physiology, and medical engineering.
“As an MD and PhD, Dr. Levey brings a unique perspective on the translation of laboratory findings into new diagnostic, treatment and preventative approaches for Alzheimer’s disease and its related dementias.”
This year, a record number of poster presentations (over 400) were submitted by trainees from the colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Public Health and Pharmacy on topics ranging from basic and translational science to clinical, epidemiological and outcomes studies.
Nearly all the trainees presenting at Research Day have a faculty mentor who helps guide them through the process of developing a hypothesis, concisely explaining their findings and why they matter, and concluding how their investigation supports or disproves the hypothesis.
“Each year the research is becoming more sophisticated, which is both a reflection of our great faculty, as well as the quality of our students,” Dr. Liggett said. “The energy you feel when you walk into that big hall is contagious… It makes for a great day.”
For the Research Day 2020 agenda, click here.
