Mark W. Albers
Position(s)
Frank Wilkens Jr. and Family Endowed Chair in Alzheimer’s Disease Research, Assistant Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School
Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical Schoo
Phone
(617) 724-740
Interests
Olfactory dysfunction as an early marker of neurodegenerative disease.
Lab Website
Biography & Research
The Albers’s Laboratory uses the olfactory system of mice and humans to elucidate early pathologic events of neurodegeneration in order to find: (1) a detailed mechanistic understanding of early pathogenic processes that are modifiable or reversible, and (2) a means to detect early stages of these diseases in humans before the onset of symptoms and distinguish early pathologic events from changes produced by aging
In the laboratory, we combine molecular biological, anatomical, physiological and behavioral techniques to test hypotheses regarding the mechanism of actions of genes associated with neurodegenerative disease. We have generated transgenic mouse lines that express genes associated with Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative diseases in defined olfactory neuron populations with temporal control using a tetracycline-regulated transcription factor. We will be extending this experimental approach to genes associated with other neurodegenerative diseases, such as frontal temporal dementia and Parkinson’s disease.
In human studies, an odor-naming deficit is one of the strongest biomarkers to predict the development of AD in a person with mild memory complaints. We have identified ten odors that independently predict the conversion of people with mild cognitive impairment to patients with AD. We are using these ten odors in an odor-induced fMRI paradigm to decipher areas of the olfactory neural circuit that are selectively affected early in the disease course. Results from these studies will inform the development of the next generation of olfactory screening tests and identify sites in the olfactory neural circuit for further study in the mouse system.
Please visit the neurology department of MGH for my full profile.
Selected Publications
Albers MW, Tabert MH, Devanand D. Olfaction and MCI, Alzheimer’s Disease and Other Dementias. Current Neurosci Neurol Reports 2006; 6: 379-386.
Albers MW, Marder, KS. A Tale of Two Etiologies: Loss and Recovery of Olfactory Function. Ann Neurol 2008; 63: 132-134.
Fleischmann, A, Shykind BJ, Sosulski DL, Franks KM, Glinka ME, Mei DF, Sun Y, Kirkland J, Mendelsohn M, Albers, MW, Axel R. Mice with a “Monoclonal” Nose: Perturbations in an Olfactory Map Impair Odor Discrimination. Neuron 2008: 1068-1081. [PMCID: 2732586].
More publications may be found at www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/