Creighton University’s Professor Pedersen Awarded Research Grant
Ward A. Pedersen, Ph.D., Creighton University’s assistant professor of Pathology, has been awarded a $280,000 grant from GlaxoSmithKline to further his studies of an experimental model of the relationship between insulin resistance and Alzheimer’s disease. Insulin resistance is the underlying problem in adult-onset diabetes (otherwise known as type 2 diabetes).
“Our published studies have shown that drugs such as rosiglitazone, that reverse insulin resistance, can also reverse many Alzheimer’s features, including the problems with memory and learning,” said Professor Pedersen.
The drug rosiglitazone, manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline under the trade name Avandia®, is an insulin sensitizing agent currently used to manage type 2 diabetes. Preliminary evidence suggests that the drug could be effective in the treatment of mild-to-moderate Alzheimer’s disease. The results of these studies could provide information useful in directing future clinical trials involving insulin-sensitizing drugs in Alzheimer’s disease patients.