Robert Vassar, Ph.D.

Director, Northwestern Alzheimer’s Disease Center, Mesulam Center for Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer’s Disease; Scientific Director of Behavioral Neurology, Davee Department of Neurology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University


Dr. Robert Vassar’s ongoing research focuses on the role of amyloid beta and BACE1 in normal biological processes and in disease mechanisms of relevance to AD. His lab is particularly interested in the functions of BACE1 and the homologue BACE2 and the cell biology of Aβ in neurons. Cellular and molecular studies of BACE1 and BACE2 knockout mice will be important for elucidating the biological functions of these novel aspartic proteases and identifying their substrates. Finally, the lab is interested in the role of inflammation in AD pathophysiology, novel transgenic and knockout mouse models of AD, and molecular changes that may occur during brain aging leading to neurodegeneration.

To learn more, visit the Vassar Lab website.

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.

Riqiang Yan, Robert Vassar Targeting the β secretase BACE1 for Alzheimer’s disease therapy, The Lancet Neurology, 13(3), March 2014, 319 - 329, Read More