Coleman awarded $1 million for research

Alzheimer's Association gives him its Pioneer Award

Coleman

Paul Coleman '53 (PhD) is one of three recipients of the Alzheimer's Association's Pioneer Award for Alzheimer's Disease Research. He first turned his attention toward Alzheimer's 20 years ago, and his work on the basic biology of the disease is recognized worldwide as central to the development of better diagnostic tests and treatment. Recent work by Coleman and his research group could form the basis for a simple test that may one day tell healthy people whether they are in the earliest stages of the disease.

Today, by the time a person is diagnosed with the disease, more than half of his or her cells in some parts of the brain have died, leading to symptoms like memory loss, agitation, and child-like behavior known so well to caregivers. Several studies have shown that the disease may be affecting the brain long before such indications become noticeable.

"We know the disease has been working its mischief in the brain for decades before somebody starts to notice symptoms and goes to a physician and gets diagnosed," said Coleman, a professor at the Center on Aging and Developmental Biology at the Medical Center. "The fact that the disease develops for perhaps 50 years before it becomes a serious problem for patients presents a wonderful window of opportunity for diagnosis and treatment.

"We want to be able to detect the disease before there are symptoms, then stop or slow its progression sufficiently so that the person can live out his or her normal life span without ever showing symptoms."

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