AAIC 2017 | How adults with Down’s syndrome play an important part in Alzheimer’s research

Cynthia Lemere, PhD, from Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA provides an overview on a featured research session looking at the neurobiology of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in Down’s syndrome. People with Down’s syndrome are at increased risk of AD due to their genetic make up, which makes them produce high levels of amyloid-beta. Being able to study AD onset in Down’s syndrome patients can provide new insights into cellular pathways and pathogenesis. The development of studies and clinical trials in this population, including vaccines that target amyloid-beta provides new hope for a subgroup of patients that are very susceptible to developing AD.