Diseases of the aging brain—including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and prion disorders—affect the lives of millions and pose a growing threat to public health. The mission of the Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases is to discover causes and develop cures for these illnesses with an innovative program of basic research and clinical medicine.
Opened in 2012, the new state-of-the-art facility provides more than 500,000 square feet for about 100 principal investigators and their teams. Among these are numerous investigators working on behalf of the IND to study Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and prion diseases--as well as medicinal chemists to help us design better drugs.
The IND brings together over 100 renowned researchers and clinicians from such diverse disciplines as neurology, cell biology, genetics, biotechnology and pharmaceutical science. Hailing from eight University of California campuses, IND members are working together to develop new treatments for neurodegenerative diseases.
Founded in 1999 by Dr. Stanley Prusiner, the Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases (IND) is pursuing a cutting-edge blend of basic science and clinical medicine to provide outstanding care to those suffering from neurodegenerative diseases. The IND is poised to make serious contributions to this struggle at the frontier of neuroscience and medicine.
The IND relies on private support to keep our labs running as they pursue cures for diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. We have many options for ongoing donations, planned giving and named endowments. We can work with you to find the solution that best meets your intentions.
UCSF is a leading university dedicated to promoting health worldwide through advanced biomedical research, graduate-level education in the life sciences and health professions, and excellence in patient care. UCSF's innovative, collaborative approaches for health care, research and education span disciplines across the health sciences and make it a world leader in scientific discovery and its translation into improved health.
The biological causes of dementia are better understood than they were a generation ago. But a diagnosis of Parkinson's disease can still inspire secretiveness that compounds the suffering of patients. Pope John Paul II experienced tremors and stiffness for years before revealing that he had the disease in 2005.
The IND's recent PNAS publication, "Purified and synthetic Alzheimer’s amyloid beta (Aβ) prions," was the most downloaded article in December 2012! Congratulations to Jan Stöhr, Joel Watts, Zachary Mensinger, Abby Oehler, Sunny Grillo, Stephen DeArmond,
Stanley Prusiner, and Kurt Giles.
The dementias are the only causes of death among the top ten in the U.S. that do not have a cure.
According to the Alzheimer's Association, the global cost of Alzheimer’s disease in 2010 was $604 billion, or 1% of global GDP. To put this into perspective, that is ~$200 billion more than the annual revenue of either WalMart or Exxon.