David L. Brody, M.D., Ph.D.

Dr. Brody is an MD, PhD trained, board certified neurologist with both a research specialization in neurodegenerative diseases and traumatic brain injury. Dr. Brody spends approximately 80% of his time performing research and 20% involved in clinical, teaching and administrative roles. Areas of active research include investigations of amyloid-beta and tau pathology in the setting of traumatic brain injury and Alzheimer’s disease, and advanced neuroimaging methods in traumatic brain injury. Dr. Brody maintains a well-funded, active laboratory in which a large volume of biochemical investigations, neuroimaging studies and experimental traumatic brain injury experiments are performed. There are currently 4 junior faculty members, 2 post-docs, 1 graduate student, 4 technicians, and 3 undergraduates in the lab.

Most relevant to the current application, Dr. Brody’s laboratory developed the first quantitative, high-throughput, specific assay for amyloid-beta oligomers; used this assay to differentiate brain tissue from demented patients with AD from non-demented patients with no overlap between groups, even when the non-demented patients had equal amounts of amyloid-beta plaque deposits (Esparza et al Annals of Neurology 2012); and performed the pioneering studies of the dynamics of amyloid-beta in the living human brain (Brody et al Science 2007). 

Funded Research

These projects were made possible from Cure Alzheimer's Fund support.

Selected Publications

These published papers resulted from Cure Alzheimer’s Fund support.

Norelle C. Wildburger, Thomas J. Esparza, Richard D. LeDuc, Ryan T. Fellers, Paul M. Thomas, Nigel J. Cairns, Neil L. Kelleher, Randall J. Bateman, David L. Brody Diversity of Amyloid-beta Proteoforms in the Alzheimer’s Disease Brain, Scientific Reports, 7, 25 Aug 2017, Read More

David L. Brody, Hao Jiang, Norelle Wildburger, Thomas J. Esparza Non-canonical soluble amyloid-beta aggregates and plaque buffering: controversies and future directions for target discovery in Alzheimer’s disease, Alzheimers Research & Therapy, 9(1), 17 Aug 2017, 62, Read More

Evan P. Lebois, Jason P. Schroeder, Thomas J. Esparza, Thomas M. Bridges, Craig W. Lindsley, P. Jeffrey Conn, David L. Brody, J. Scott Daniels, Allan I. Levey Disease-Modifying Effects of M-1 Muscarinic Acetylcholine Receptor Activation in an Alzheimer’s Disease Mouse Model, Acs Chemical Neuroscience, 8(6), Jun 2017, 1177-1187, Read More

Octavian Adam, M.D., Christine L. Mac Donald, Ph.D., Dennis Rivet, M.D., John Ritter, M.D., Todd May, D.O., Maria Barefield, O.T.D., Josh Duckworth, M.D., Donald LaBarge, M.D., Dean Asher, M.D., Benjamin Drinkwine, M.D., Yvette Woods, Ph.D., Michael Connor, Psy.D. and David L. Brody, M.D., Ph.D. Clinical and imaging assessment of acute combat mild traumatic brain injury in Afghanistan, Neurology, 85(3), 21 July 2015, 219-227, Read More