A new research center for Alzheimer’s disease and dementia is up and running at the University of Delaware.
The Delaware Center for Cognitive Aging Research is a new initiative recently launched after several years of collaborative research on Alzheimer’s disease and related cognitive disorders.
This center is the first of its type in Delaware with the plan to grow the number of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia researchers at UD.
The center looks to educate the community on modifiable risk factors like managing high blood pressure and depression while also addressing mild cognitive impairment.
"The past 5 years or so we've been working somewhere independently on projects related to Alzheimer's disease, and we recognized a need within the state of Delaware for more infrastructure to advanced Alzheimer's research and provide Delawareans with access to clinical trials and cutting edge research that they normally would have to get by driving to a major medical center like UPENN or Hopkins in Baltimore," said Chris Marten, an assistant professor of kinesiology and applied physiology at UD, and the center’s executive director..
The center is housed at UD’s College of Health Sciences, and Martens notes the hope is to expand the center to other sites throughout the state.
Martens says this center has been in the works for some time.
"This is a new initiative that we just recently launched after several years of collaborative research efforts by myself and colleagues who are all invested in research on Alzheimer's disease and related cognitive disorders," said Martens.
Martens adds they focus on really early cognitive decline before the manifestation of clinical Alzheimer’s disease so they can intervene sooner through healthy lifestyle modifications and interventions.
