Cure Alzheimer's Fund Cure Alzheimer's Fund

Dominic Walsh, Ph.D.

Professor Walsh began working on Alzheimer’s disease in 1992 and gained postdoctoral training in Ireland and the US.  With support from the Wellcome Trust University he established the Laboratory for Neurodegenerative Research at University College Dublin in 2003 and in September 2011 moved his lab to the Harvard Institutes of Medicine in Boston.

Prof. Walsh’s lab applies a wide range of advanced biochemical, molecular, cell biological, electrophysiological and behavioural methods to decipher the basic mechanisms of neurodegeneration.  The ultimate goal of his research is to generate sufficient information to allow the development of rationally designed drugs that will slow or halt disease.  As such he has been at the forefront of studies on the role of soluble A oligomers in Alzheimer’s disease and has authored several landmark papers.  The impact and pace of his work is evident from the fact that twenty of his publications have each been cited in access of 200 times and that more than a third of the total were published since 2007.  Prof. Walsh has also written a number of widely cited reviews and has given over 80 invited lectures.  He has served as an Editor or Editorial Advisor for several journals and as an ad hoc reviewer for all of the world’s leading biomedical journals.  His research has been supported by the Wellcome Trust, European Union, Science Foundation Ireland, Health Research Board, IRCSET, Medical Research Council (UK), NIH (USA), Alzheimer’s Association (USA), grants from industry and donations from the general public.

Prof. Walsh has provided expert analysis of Alzheimer disease research on TV and radio and has worked tirelessly to highlight the need for more investment in clinical and research services.  He was the co-founder of the Dublin Brain Bank and is a member of the Irish National Steering Committee on Neurodegenerative Disease Research.  Prof. Walsh has also organized several international conferences and has acted as a grant reviewer for more than 20 different agencies in the US, Europe, mild East and Australia.  He has served on the scientific advisory board of several start-up companies and is a consultant to a number of leading pharmaceutical companies.

Related Research:

Aβ Oligomers and the Pathogenic Spread of Tau Aggregation: Implications for Alzheimer’s Disease Mechanism and Treatment Dominic Walsh Dennis Selkoe 2012-03-20

Funded Research

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

Project Description Researchers Funding
Aβ Oligomers and the Pathogenic Spread of Tau Aggregation: Implications for Alzheimer’s Disease Mechanism and Treatment 2012, 2013

$251,000

Selected Publications

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

Kanmert, D., Cantlon, A., Muratore, C. R., Jin, M., O'Malley, T. T., Lee, G., Young-Pearse, T. L., Selkoe, D. J., & Walsh, D. M. C-Terminally Truncated Forms of Tau, But Not Full-Length Tau or Its C-Terminal Fragments, Are Released from Neurons Independently of Cell Death, Journal of Neuroscience, July 20, 2015, Read More

Cantlon, A., Frigerio, C. S., Freir, D. B., Boland, B., Jin, M., & Walsh, D. M. The Familial British dementia mutation promates formation of neurotoxic cystine cross-linked amyloid Bri (Abri) Oligomers, Journal of Biological Chemistry, July 3, 2015, Read More

Mably, A. J., Kanmert, D., Mc Donald, J. M., Liu, W., Caldarone, B. J., Lemere, C. A., O'Nuallain, B., Kosik, K. S., & Walsh, D. M. Tau immunization: a cautionary tale?, Neurobiology of Aging, March 1, 2015, Read More

An, K., Klyubin, I., Kim, Y., Jung, J. H., Mably, A. J., O'Dowd, S. T., Lynch, T., Kanmert, D., Lemere, C. A., Finan, G. M., Park, J. W., Kim, T. W., Walsh, D. M., Rowan, M. J., & Kim, J. H. Exosomes neutralize synaptic-plasticity-disrupting activity of A beta assemblies in vivo, Molecular Brain, November 13, 2013, Read More

McDonald, J. M., Cairns, N. J., Taylor-Reinwald, L., Holtzman, D., & Walsh, D. M. The levels of water-soluble and triton-soluble A beta are increased in Alzheimer’s disease brain, Brain Research, April 23, 2012, Read More

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