Brian J. Bacskai, Ph.D.

Dr. Bacskai's laboratory uses sophisticated optical techniques to address fundamental questions in Alzheimer's disease research.

Using the imaging technique mulitphoton micrsocopy, the senile plaques of Alzheimer's disease can be detected in the brains of living transgenic mice, and characterized with chronic imaging. This detection platform was used to characterize a therapeutic approach to clearing the senile plaques based on immunotherapy, as well as to characterize novel amyloid-targeting ligands in preclinical development for PET imaging in humans.

Current research is aimed at optimizing anti-amyloid-beta therapeutic approaches, and imaging the anatomy and physiology of specific cell types in the brain before and after treatment. Development of novel optical techniques is ongoing, and includes methods to measure protein-protein interactions using fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM), and non-invasive approaches to amyloid imaging in iintact animals. www.bacskailab.org