Dr. Newhouse is the Director of the Center for Cognitive Medicine in the Department of Psychiatry at Vanderbilt University Medical Center that focuses on studies of the cognitive basis of neuropsychiatric disease.

Dr. Newhouse’s research has focused on central cholinergic mechanisms in Alzheimer’s disease and the role of cholinergic receptor systems in normal and disordered cognitive functioning in humans. He has also emphasized the development of novel cholinergic agents for clinical use in cognitive disorders. A second major focus includes studying the interaction of estrogen and related molecules on central cholinergic systems in relation to cognitive and emotional aging through the use of novel pharmacologic-imaging methodologies. Current foci in his lab include the effects of nicotinic and muscarinic mechanisms on cognitive functioning in aging, MCI and Alzheimer’s disease, the effects of nicotinic stimulation in older adults with Down syndrome, the effects of menopause on cholinergic-mediated cognitive performance in older women, and the treatment of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) with nicotinic stimulation. He has funding from NIA, NIMH, and private foundations.

He is a diplomat of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology in both General Psychiatry and Geriatric Psychiatry and in 2002 was awarded the American Psychiatric Association Profiles in Courage award. Dr. Newhouse serves as a frequent consultant to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies in the United States and abroad on central nervous system drug development, clinical trial design for dementia and depression, and clinical nicotinic pharmacology.

Dr. Burke has worked extensively with patients and families suffering with neurodegenerative disorders including Alzheimer’s disease in Down Syndromw. Her area of expertise includes the diagnosis and management of cognitive disorders and the treatment of challenging behavioral and psychiatric disturbances that result from neurological conditions.

In addition to her clinical work, Dr. Burke has led the development of comprehensive multispecialty clinical care models focused on improving the quality of care for individuals with cognitive impairment and improving the diagnosis and management of Alzheimer’s and related dementias in the community.

She is a well-respected researcher having led over 80 clinical trials of investigational pharmacotherapies, neuromodulation, environmental modifications, prevention methods, and novel neuroimaging techniques.

Dr. Christian’s research and mentoring activities focus on developing and translating novel neuroimaging methods and PET radiotracers for the study of human development and neurodegeneration. This involves using neuroimaging to investigate neurochemical changes in the brain and studying novel radioligands to characterize neurotransmitter-protein interactions and how they are influenced by development, genes, environment and aging. He is also the Co-director of the Brain Imaging Lab and Director of the PET Imaging Core for the UW Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (ADRC). He is currently Co-PI of the Alzheimer’s Biomarker Consortium – Down Syndrome (ABC-DS) project, a multicenter study of the progression of Alzheimer’s disease related biomarkers in adults with Down syndrome.

Dr. Ances’ research focuses on developing novel neuroimaging biomarkers for neurodegenerative diseases- especially Alzheimer’s disease (AD). He concentrates on functional and structural magnetic resonance imaging and positron emission tomography methods to detect early changes in the brain due to AD, and has pioneered the use of advanced neuroimaging techniques (including ASL and BOLD resting state functional connectivity) to study neurodegenerative diseases. Dr. Ances has assisted collaborators in the United States and abroad in implementing advanced neuroimaging techniques.

Dr. Handen is a clinical psychologist with over 35 years’ experience as a researcher and clinician in the field of intellectual and developmental disabilities. His research involves some of the first published amyloid PET scan studies with adults with Down syndrome. In 2009, Dr. Handen and his colleagues initiated a NIA-funded, multicenter longitudinal study of amyloid deposition in the Down syndrome population and its impact on cognition. Currently, he is co-principal investigator of the coordinating center for a NIA/NICHD-funded, multicenter U01 study of biomarkers of Alzheimer’s disease in adults with Down syndrome (Neurodegeneration in Adults Down Syndrome – NiAD).

Dr. Jicha serves as an Associate Center Director and leads the Clinical Core of the UK , NIA-funded Alzheimer’s Disease Center. He also serves as the Medical Director of Kentucky Telecare and directs the Telemedicine Cognitive Clinic at the University of Kentucky, designed to reach out to rural populations across Kentucky for both clinical and research-related activities in the area of AD and related disorders. He is the principle investigator at UK for the National Alzheimer’s Disease Cooperative Study (ADCS) Group, the Alzheimer’s Clinical Trial Consortium (ACTC), serves on the Clinical Task Force and Steering Committee for the National Institute of Aging Alzheimer’s Disease Center Program, and also serves as the immediate past Chair of the American Academy of Neurology Geriatric section, and as the current Chair for the International Alzheimer’s Association Clinical Trials Advancement and Methodology Professional Interest Group. His current research interests lie in the areas of preclinical disease states, mild cognitive impairment, vascular contributions to dementia, and clinical trials of disease modifying therapies for degenerative dementias.