Karen Toffler Charitable Trust Announces Strategic Partnership with Kavli Foundation and Cure Alzheimer's Fund to Support Groundbreaking Alzheimer's Research

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Karen Toffler Charitable Trust (KTCT) is thrilled to announce a funding partnership with The Kavli Foundation and Cure Alzheimer's Fund to support a pioneering research collaboration aimed at uncovering the intricate mechanisms underlying Alzheimer's disease (AD). Professors Andrew J. Holbrook (UCLA Fielding School of Public Health) and Theodore Zwang (Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical) are joining forces to tackle the technological and analytical challenges that have long hindered the study of aging and neurodegeneration.

Aging brings about both structural and functional changes in the adult brain, contributing to cognitive decline and increasing the risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, distinguishing the neural activity changes that lead to deteriorating cognitive function has been difficult due to limitations in data collection and analysis over extended periods.

Dr. Zwang has developed flexible electronic devices that mimic neurons, enabling the recording of brain activity from individual neurons across multiple brain regions for over a year. His work has yielded extensive data, including recordings from thousands of neurons, 100 million neuron firings, and associated behavioral and field potential data.

Dr. Holbrook, a specialist in statistical machine learning, has developed techniques for analyzing large quantities of neural signals and modeling the global spread of viral contagion. This collaborative project aims to merge Zwang's experimental techniques with Holbrook's analytical methods at scale.

Utilizing a bank of 50 large graphics processing units (GPU) at UCLA, the team will scale Holbrook's models to handle the terabytes of data generated by Zwang's experiments. These models will visualize dynamic/high-dimensional data, predict behavior based on neuronal signals, assign importance to individual neurons, and quantify uncertainty for key scientific measures.

This project is generously supported by a funding partnership between the KTCT, The Kavli Foundation, and Cure Alzheimer's Fund. It exemplifies the collaborative spirit fostered by the KTCT's Exeloop℠ program. KTCT is a 501c-3 nonprofit organization working to rid the world of neurological diseases. Exeloop is a center point for a network of collaborative relationships. The Kavli Foundation is dedicated to advancing science for the benefit of humanity and funds fundamental research in neuroscience, nanoscience, and astrophysics. Cure Alzheimer's Fund is a nonprofit dedicated to funding the most promising research to prevent, slow or reverse Alzheimer's disease.

SOURCE The Karen Toffler Charitable Trust

WANT YOUR COMPANY'S NEWS FEATURED ON PRNEWSWIRE.COM?

440k+
Newsrooms &
Influencers

9k+
Digital Media
Outlets

270k+
Journalists
Opted In

GET STARTED