Who We Are
The University of Colorado (CU) Alzheimer's and Cognition Center is located at the CU Anschutz Medical Campus and is part of the School of Medicine, Department of Neurology. Our center offers clinical care, clinical research, and translational research through a collaboration between the University of Colorado and the University of Colorado Health System. We emphasize both research and clinical care using a team approach, with laboratory research scientists and neurology clinicians, who are also faculty members and clinical researchers at the CU School of Medicine, all working collaboratively on the science and treatments of neurodegenerative diseases. Our center also connects with the community outside of the university with education and support programs, participating in community events, and working with community advisory boards.
Mission
The mission of the CU Alzheimer’s and Cognition Center is to discover effective early diagnostics, preventions, treatments, and, ultimately, cures for Alzheimer’s disease and related neurodegenerative disorders.
Director's Welcome
The financial and emotional cost of Alzheimer’s disease and related neurodegenerative disorders will soon break our health care system if we do not find effective preventions and treatments. The CU Alzheimer's and Cognition Center is 
dedicated to providing the best available care now for patients with memory/neurodegenerative disorders, especially Alzheimer’s disease. We are also pushing the forefront of innovation, with the goal of developing effective early diagnostics, biomarkers, preventions, treatments, and, ultimately, cures for these devastating diseases.
Our approach is to integrate laboratory and clinical research so that ideas and discoveries can be translated quickly from their foundation in cell and animal experiments into clinical trials in humans. Already, this approach has allowed the CU Alzheimer's and Cognition Center to discover that a known medicine called ‘Leukine®’ is a potential treatment for Alzheimer’s disease. We have just completed our first Leukine® clinical trial in Alzheimer's disease patients, which showed improvement in a measure of cognition and in three blood biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease brain pathology.
Our research crosses into new territories, asking many questions:
- What can we learn by studying adults with Down syndrome (trisomy 21), who are at very high risk for developing Alzheimer’s disease?
- How does the strong Alzheimer's disease genetic risk factor APOE4 promote Alzheimer's disease, and can we develop drugs to block this effect?
- How does inflammation tie into Alzheimer’s disease pathogenesis?
- How does traumatic brain injury promote Alzheimer's disease risk, and how can we ameliorate its effects?
We have assembled a dedicated group of clinicians, clinical and laboratory researchers, and support staff. We approach our work as teammates focused on a common goal. The contributions of patients, participant volunteers, family members, caregivers, donors, and the broader community all play an essential role as we strive to achieve our goals. We are extremely grateful for everyone’s contributions. It is an exciting time to be part of the “End Alzheimer’s” movement.
Huntington Potter, PhD
Director, University of Colorado Alzheimer's and Cognition Center