The awardee is presented the Alzheimer Medal. Awardee Luciano D'Adamio, M.D., Ph.D. Luciano D Adamio, M.D., Ph.D., is currently a Professor of Immunology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York. At Dana-Faber Luciano, under the supervision of Dr. Ellis L. Reinherz, demonstrated that autoreactive T cells during thymic development are eliminated by an apoptotic mechanism. At the NIH he developed a functional selection system to identify genes regulating apoptosis in T cells. Subsequently, Luciano s team proved that PS2 is required for apoptosis and that PS2 FAD mutants have enhanced pro-apoptotic activity.
AID is able to induce apoptosis in different cell lines.
Increased steady-state levels of AID in AD cases may initially cause biochemical alteration and neuronal disfunction. Prolonged alterations in neuronal metabolism may progressively lead to neuronal degeneration and death. A transcript of the discussion is available here . Click here for information on last year's Alzheimer Award.