Cure Alzheimer's Fund Cure Alzheimer's Fund

Marc Diamond, M.D.

Founding Director, Center for Alzheimer’s and Neurodegenerative Diseases; Distinguished Chair in Basic Brain Injury and Repair, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center

Marc Diamond, M.D., is the founding Director of the Center for Alzheimer’s and Neurodegenerative Diseases, and is a Professor of Neurology and Neurotherapeutics. Dr. Diamond completed an internship, residency, and chief residency in neurology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) in 1997. After a postdoctoral fellowship, he was a faculty member in the Neurology Department at UCSF from 2002-2009. From 2009-2014 he was the David Clayson Professor of Neurology at Washington University in St. Louis, before he was recruited to UT Southwestern. His research focuses on molecular mechanisms of neurodegeneration in Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders, with the goal of developing novel therapies and diagnostic tools. A therapeutic antibody he co-developed at Washington University in St. Louis is now entering clinical trials for the treatment of dementia. The Center for Alzheimer’s and Neurodegenerative Diseases is comprised of a multidisciplinary group of investigators who are focused on understanding the basis of progressive protein aggregation in human disease. They are using this knowledge to hasten the day when neurodegeneration can be detected presymptomatically and stopped before it causes disability.

Related Research:

Alzheimer’s Disease Tau Consortium: Role of VCP/p97 in Tau Prion Replication Marc Diamond 2023-01-20 RNA as a Determinant of Tau Seeding Marc Diamond 2023-01-12 Mechanisms of Tau Propagation Across the Plasma Membrane Marc Diamond 2021-01-29 Genetic Targets to Block Tau Propagation: Test Knockdown of Heparan Sulfate Proteoglycan Genes In Vivo Marc Diamond 2016-01-11

Funded Research

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

Project Description Researchers Funding
Alzheimer’s Disease Tau Consortium: Role of VCP/p97 in Tau Prion Replication 2022, 2023

$574,000
RNA as a Determinant of Tau Seeding 2022, 2023

$460,000
Mechanisms of Tau Propagation Across the Plasma Membrane 2020, 2021

$500,000
Genetic Targets to Block Tau Propagation: Test Knockdown of Heparan Sulfate Proteoglycan Genes In Vivo 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019

$645,000

Selected Publications

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

Sun, Z., Kwon, J. S., Ren, Y., Chen, S., Walker, C. K., Lu, X., Cates, K., Karahan, H., Sviben, S., Fitzpatrick, J. A. J., Valdez, C., Houlden, H., Karch, C. M., Bateman, R. J., Sato, C., Mennerick, S. J., Diamond, M. I., Kim, J., Tanzi, R. E., Holtzman, D. M., Yoo, A. S. Modeling late-onset Alzheimer’s disease neuropathology via direct neuronal reprogramming, Science, August 8, 2024, Read More

Kaufman, S. K., Del Tredici, K., Thomas, T. L., Braak, H., & Diamond, M. I. Tau seeding activity begins in the transentorhinal/entorhinal regions and anticipates phospho-tau pathology in Alzhiemer’s disease and PART, Acta Neuropathologica, May 11, 2018, Read More

Kaufman, S. K., Thomas, T. L., Del Tredici, K., Braak, H., & Diamond, M. I. Characterization of tau prion seeding activity and strains from formaldehyde-fixed tissue, Acta Neuropathologica Communications, June 7, 2017, Read More

Stopschinski, B. E., Del Tredici, K., Estill-Terpack, S. J., Ghebremdehin, E., Yu, F. F., Braak, H., & Diamond, M. I. Anatomic survey of seeding in Alzheimer’s disease brains reveals unexpected patterns, Acta Neuropathologica Communications, October 11, 2021, Read More

Stopschinski, B. E., Holmes, B. B., Miller, G. M., Manon, V. A., Vaquer-Alicea, J., Prueitt, W. L., Hsieh-Wilson, L. C., & Diamond, M. I. Specific glycosaminoglycan chain length and sulfation patterns are required for cell uptake of tau versus alpha synuclein and beta amyloid aggregates, Journal of Biological Chemistry, July 6, 2018, Read More

Stopschinski, B. E., Thomas, T. L., Nadji, S., Darvish, E., Fan, L., Holmes, B. B., Modi, A. R., Finnell, J. G., Kashmer, O. M., Estill-Terpack, S., Mirbaha, H., Luu, H. S., & Diamond, M. I. A synthetic heparinoid blocks Tau aggregate cell uptake and amplification, Journal of Biological Chemistry, January 23, 2020, Read More

Kolay, S., Vega, A. R., Dodd, D. A., Perez, V. A., Kashmer, O. M., White, C. L., 3rd, & Diamond, M. I. The dual fates of exogenous tau seeds: lysosomal clearance vs. cytoplasmic amplification, Journal of Biological Chemistry, May 5, 2022, Read More

Mirbaha, H., Chen, D., Mullapudi, V., Terpack, S. J., White, C. L., 3rd, Joachimiak, L. A., & Diamond, M. I. Seed-competent tau monomer initiates pathology in a tauopathy mouse model, Journal of Biological Chemistry, June 22, 2022, Read More

Kaufman, S. K., Sanders, D. W., Thomas, T. L., Ruchinskas, A. J., Vaquer-Alicea, J., Sharma, A. M., Miller, T. M., & Diamond, M. I. Tau prion strains dictate patterns of cell pathology, progression rate, and regional vulnerability in vivo, Neuron, November 23, 2016, Read More

Wu, J. W., Hussaini, S. A., Bastille, I. M., Rodriguez, G. A., Mrejeru, A., Rilett, K., Sanders, D. W., Cook, C., Fu, H., Boonen, R. A., Herman, M., Nahmani, E., Emrani, S., Figueroa, Y. H., Diamond, M. I., Clelland, C. L., Wray, S., & Duff, K. E. Neuronal activity enhances tau propagation and tau pathology in vivo, Nature Neuroscience, June 20, 2016, Read More

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