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The USF Health Byrd Alzheimer’s Center and Research Institute is dedicated to the prevention, treatment and cure of Alzheimer’s and related disorders. With highly qualified researchers, doctors, clinicians and educators, the institute is at the forefront of Alzheimer's research and care.
The institute is a center of excellence at the University of South Florida that provides compassionate patient care, performs cutting edge research and delivers quality caregiver support and public and professional education.
The Institute produces an Alzheimer's Caregiver Podcast to provide caregivers with practical information to help them care for their loved one.
Joseph McMillan is a PhD student in Dr Thinakaran's lab and is interested in discovering how genetic risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease lead to people getting the disease later in life. Read more
Dr Ponnusamy was awarded a fellowship from the Alzheimer's Association International Research Grant Program. This Research Fellowship will help him to characterize the interplay between BIN1, APOE (the top two risk genes for late-onset Alzheimer’s disease), and tau pathophysiology. This project might elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying BIN1-dependent APOE modulation of tauopathy.
Hariom Yadav, PhD and USF Health researchers discover that fenchol, a natural compound found in basil and other plants, has the same beneficial effect as gut-derived metabolites in reducing neurotoxic effects of Alzheimer’s disease amyloid-beta in model systems. Dr Yadav, associate professor of neurosurgery and brain repair at USF Health and Director of the USF Center for Microbiome Research was recently published in the Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience.
The USF Foundation announced a $1.8 million estate gift to USF Health that will fund a women’s heart health professorship, dermatology research endowment and caregiver education programs at the Byrd Alzheimer’s Center. Bruce Mackey, an avid community volunteer and USF Health patient, made the generous gift to USF.
“The USF Health Byrd Alzheimer’s Institute is honored to be one of the recipients of this gift”, said Dr. Gopal Thinakaran, CEO of the Byrd Institute. “Education and support for family caregivers is part of the Institute’s mission and this gift will enable us to do even more for the families affected by this devastating disease.”
Mackey lost family members to Alzheimer’s, which inspired him to allocate part of his gift to support caregiver programs. The new fund will be used to expand the Institute’s caregiver programs and to produce new educational resources to help family caregivers.
Click to read the full story about the Mackey estate gift and the impact to USF.
Dr. Amanda Smith, Director of Clinical Research at the Byrd Institute, was interviewed on ABC Action News to announce a new clinical trial being conducted at the Byrd Alzheimer's Institute. The trial is called the AHEAD Study and is being conducted at 75 sites across the U.S. and Canada. We are very pleased to be part of such a groundbreaking research study and we know the impact this could have worldwide.
Welcome to the Byrd Alzheimer’s Institute website. We hope that you will find inspiration, information and hope from the work our team is doing in our research laboratories, with our clinical trials programs, with our patient care clinics and with our caregiver, professional and community educational programs.
The New Patient Appointment Form must be completed and mailed back to us in order to schedule your initial visit at our clinic. If you can not print a copy, please call our clinic to have one mailed to you.
USF Researcher and Byrd Institute faculty member, Hariom Yadav PhD interviewed on his research on his microbiomeresearch and brain health.
USF Health studies how diet affects gut, oral microbiomes linked to brain health in older adults
Tampa Bay Times interviewed Dr Amanda Smith about the new Alzheimer’s drug, Aduhelm. Read the article, “A new Alzheimer’s drug will soon be here. What does that mean for Florida”?
Dr Amanda Smith was featured in a live interview on air on channel 10 News discussing the new Alzheimer’s drug, Aduhelm.
Dr Amanda Smith, Director of Clinical Research at the Byrd Institute, is interviewed on ABC news about the new AHEAD study for individuals with no memory loss aimed to find medication to prevent Alzheimer's
Next steps will accelerate our Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center
USF Research Day 2020 includes focus on Alzheimer’s
Dr. Gopal Thinakaran pursues genetic clues to Alzheimer’s disease pathways
Byrd Institute study suggests cell phone waves could combat the effects of Alzheimer's
Dr Alexa Woo's research targets B-arrestins with the aim of arresting Alzheimer's disease
Dr Amanda Smith's News Radio WFLA interview on Alzheimer's Diagnosis and Treatment
Dr Amanda Smith's News Radio WFLA interview on Alzheimer's Clinical Trials
David Kang probes brain changes in aging that tip the balance toward dementia
Next steps to accelerate our Alzheimer’s disease research, neuroscience efforts
Early life stress plus overexpressed FKBP5 protein increases anxiety behavior
Byrd Alzheimer’s Center: Basic research objectives and faculty recruitment strategy
Cofilin may be early culprit in tauopathy process leading to brain cell death
Leading Alzheimer’s researchers to join USF Health Neuroscience Institute
Jerri Edwards ranks #8 among NIH-funded researchers in Psychiatry
Byrd Institute's medical experts and resources help couple navigate Alzheimer's Journey
USF researchers must overcome challenges for clinical trials success
The Podcast is a great resource that is easily accessible and available to listen to at your convenience. The goal of the Podcast is to rovide important and practical information for caregivers. New episodes are added every week.
We are currently conducting our caregiver support group and caregiver workshops virtually on Zoom.
Please go to our Caregiver page for more information or email the Director of Education