Cure Alzheimer's Fund Cure Alzheimer's Fund

Dora M. Kovacs, Ph.D., retired

Dr. Kovacs has over fifteen years of molecular and cell biology research experience. She joined the Genetics and Aging Research Unit in 1993 as a postdoctoral fellow, to study the role of the amyloid precursor protein (APP) in Alzheimer’s disease. She has since co-authored over fifteen original articles in peer-reviewed journals, over ten chapters or reviews, and is co-inventor on three patents. She has served for several years on the Review Board of the Medical and Scientific Advisory Council of the Alzheimer’s Association, and most recently on the Editorial Board of The Scientific World. For her contributions to research on the molecular basis of Alzheimer’s disease, she received the Britton Fellowship for Research in Alzheimer’s disease, the French Foundation for Alzheimer Research Fellowship, and the Neurosciences Education and Research Foundation Award.

Dr. Kovacs received a summa cum laude BS-MS degree in Biology from the University of Bologna, Italy, and a Ph.D. in Pharmacology and Toxicology from the University of Padova, Italy, in 1991. While earning her Ph.D. degree in Italy, she performed her research at the Division of Neuropathology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland.

Related Research:

Optimization of Novel ACAT Inhibitors for Alzheimer’s Disease Dora M. Kovacs 2012-03-20 Three Studies of ACAT Inhibitors as Potential Therapies for AD Dora M. Kovacs 2011-02-12

Funded Research

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

Project Description Researchers Funding
Optimization of Novel ACAT Inhibitors for Alzheimer’s Disease 2011

$150,000
Three Studies of ACAT Inhibitors as Potential Therapies for AD 2004, 2006

$300,000

Selected Publications

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

Huttunen, H. J., Havas, D., Peach, C., Barren, C., Duller, S., Xia, W., Frosch, M. P., Hutter-Paier, B., Windisch, M., & Kovacs, D. M. The Acyl-coenzyme A: cholesterol Acyltransferase Inhibitor CI-1011 Reverses Diffuse Brain Amyloid pathology in aged amyloid precursor protein transgenic mice, Journal of Neuropathology & Experimental Neurology, August 1, 2010, Read More

Bhattacharyya, R., & Kovacs, D. M. ACAT Inhibition and amyloid beta reduction, Biochimica et Biophysica Acta - Molecular and Cell Biology of Lipids, August 1, 2010, Read More

Bhattacharyya, R., Barren, C., & Kovacs, D. M. Palmitoylation of Amyloid Precursor Protein regulates amyloidogenic processing in lipid rafts, Journal of Neuroscience, July 3, 2013, Read More

Huttunen, H. J., Peach, C., Bhattacharyya, R., Barren, C., Pettingell, W., Hutter-Paier, B., Windisch, M., Berezovska, O., & Kovacs, D. M. Inhibition of acyl-coenzyme A: cholesterol acyl transferase modulates amyloid precursor protein trafficking in the early secretory pathway, The FASEB Journal, July 22, 2009, Read More

Kovacs, D. M., Gersbacher, M. T., & Kim, D. Y. Alzheimer’s secretases regulate voltage-gated sodium channels, Neuroscience Letters, December 10, 2010, Read More

Sachse, C. C., Kim, Y. H., Agsten, M., Huth, T., Alzheimer, C., Kovacs, D. M., & Kim, D. Y. BACE1 and presenilin/gamma-secretase regulate proteolytic processing of KCNE1 and 2, auxilary subunits of voltage-gated potassium channels, The FASEB Journal, March 15, 2013, Read More

Dong, Y., Wu, X., Zhang, G., Xu, Z., Zhang, Y., Gautam, V., Kovacs, D. M., Wu, A., Yue, Y., & Xie, Z. Isoflurane facilitates synaptic NMDA receptor endocytosis in mice primary neurons, Current Molecular Medicine, May 1, 2013, Read More

Lotlikar, M. S., Tarantino, M. B., Jorfi, M., Kovacs, D. M., Tanzi, R. E., & Bhattacharyya, R. Microfluidic separation of axonal and somal compartments of neural progenitor cells differentiated in a 3D matrix, STAR Protocols, January 7, 2022, Read More

Bhattacharyya, R., Black, S. E., Lotlikar, M. S., Fenn, R. H., Jorfi, M., Kovacs, D. M., & Tanzi, R. E. Axonal generation of amyloid-β from palmitoylated APP in mitochondria-associated endoplasmic reticulum membranes, Cell Reports, May 18, 2021, Read More

Bhattacharyya, R., Fenn, R. H., Barren, C., Tanzi, R. E., & Kovacs, D. M. Palmitoylated APP forms Dimers, Cleaved BACE1, PLoS One, November 22, 2016, Read More

D'Avanzo, C., Sliwinski, C., Wagner, S. L., Tanzi, R. E., Kim, D. Y., & Kovacs, D. M. Gamma-Secretase modulators reduce endogenous amyloid beta (42) levels in human neural progenitor cells without altering neuronal differentiation, The FASEB Journal, April 22, 2015, Read More

Choi, S. H., Kim, Y. H., Hebisch, M., Sliwinski, C., Lee, S., D'Avanzo, C., Chen, H., Hooli, B., Asselin, C., Muffat, J., Klee, J. B., Zhang, C., Wainger, B. J., Peitz, M., Kovacs, D. M., Woolf, C. J., Wagner, S. L., Tanzi, R. E., & Kim, D. Y. A three-dimensional human neural cell culture model of Alzheimer’s disease, Nature, October 12, 2014, Read More

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