“Understanding Alzheimer’s disease biomarkers in the AD continuum”

Background: Dr. Betthauser is an assistant scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison investigating methods and strategies to enable early detection of Alzheimer’s disease pathophysiology using positron emission tomography imaging. He received a B.A. in physics from SUNY-Plattsburgh and went on to complete his doctoral training in medical physics with a focus on nuclear medicine and neuroimaging from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Earlier in his career, his research focus was related to methods development and evaluation of novel tracers for imaging pathologic tau protein aggregates observed in Alzheimer’s disease. His current research efforts are directed at using PET tracers for beta-amyloid and tau protein aggregates, hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease pathology, in conjunction with structural magnetic resonance imaging and fluid biomarkers to better understand the early course of AD biomarkers and how these measures might inform disease staging and prognosis.

In his talk, Dr. Betthauser will present recent results from his postdoctoral training at the Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center using data from the Wisconsin Registry for Alzheimer’s Prevention. This work focuses on applications of imaging and fluid biomarkers to investigate pathophysiological changes in beta-amyloid and tau proteins in relation to cognitive decline and health factors during the asymptomatic (i.e. “preclinical”) phase of Alzheimer’s disease. The talk will conclude with a synopsis of these findings and a discussion of potential future directions.

Neuroimaging and Informatics Analysis Center (NIAC) seminars 

For inquiries contact Cathy Gezella.