Director Massachusetts Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, Massachusetts General Hospital

Physician Investigator (Cl) Neurology, Mass General Research Institute

Physician-Investigator MassGeneral Institute for Neurodegenerative Disease (MIND), Massachusetts General Hospital

John B. Penney, Jr. Professor of Neurology Harvard Medical School

MD University of Iowa College of Medicine 1983

PhD University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine 1982

alpha-synuclein; alzheimer's disease; amyloid beta-peptides; amyloid beta-protein precursor; apolipoproteins e; neurofibrillary tangles; plaque amyloid; presenilin mutations; presenilin receptors; tau proteins

Dr. Hyman’s research program studies the neural system failure that underlies cognitive loss in Alzheimer’s, and how genetics impacts pathophysiology. His laboratory uses transgenic mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease and in vitro systems to examine the roles of presenilin mutations and receptors in neuronal function and on Alzheimer-related processes.

Dr. Hyman’s laboratory has developed in vivo imaging with 2-photon confocal microscopy, enabling observation of neurons in the intact, functioning mouse brain, and tracking the pathological changes that occur during disease processes. His research has shown that that plaques can be reversed by therapeutic application of antibodies.

Dr. Hyman’s laboratory has been pursing the role of the protein alpha-synuclein, which is thought to be involved in the cause of Parkinson’s disease. Using sophisticated optical imaging methods and gene transfer techniques, they have found several kinds of molecules, which can change the metabolism and effects of synuclein, and which may be targets for preventative or neuroprotective treatments.