This new study, led by Director C. Justin LEE of the Center for Cognition and Sociality within the Institute for Basic Science (IBS) in Daejeon, South Korea, set out to identify the brain’s own defenses against a particularly harmful form of ROS — hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂). Using advanced imaging and molecular analysis, the team discovered that hemoglobin exists in the nucleolus of astrocytes — star-shaped brain cells critical for neuronal support — where it acts as a “pseudoperoxidase,” breaking down H₂O₂ into harmless water.

The fourth annual Fork It Alzheimer’s event, hosted by Daryl and Irwin Simon in partnership with the Alzheimer’s Association, took place on July 12, raising funds for groundbreaking Alzheimer’s disease (AD) prevention efforts. During the event, the Simon family announced that the Fork It Fund, created in collaboration with their friend, Stacy Polley, and the Association, awarded $1 million to support a major initiative at the USC Mark and Mary Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute (Stevens INI) at the Keck School of Medicine of USC. 

A centerpiece of the event was a video presentation by Stevens INI Director and Fork It-funded researcher Arthur W. Toga, Ph.D. Toga detailed the Fund’s support of the Global Alzheimer’s Association Interactive Network (GAAIN), a global data-sharing platform created at the Stevens INI intended to accelerate scientific discovery by making critical research data more accessible worldwide. The first of its kind, GAAIN is a federated network connecting independently operated Alzheimer’s disease and dementia-related data repositories from around the world. GAAIN was created in 2015 to address the challenges of making data available and accessible while supporting and connecting researchers worldwide to accelerate AD research, including advancing treatments and prevention strategies.

Scientists at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital discovered that the protein midkine inhibits the formation of amyloid beta assemblies that are central to the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s.