Alzheimer’s Association Honors Two Researchers with de Leon Prizes in Neuroimaging at Alzheimer’s Association International Conference® 2017

LONDON, July 15, 2017 — Two accomplished researchers are the winners of this year’s de Leon Prizes in Neuroimaging. The awards were presented during the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference® 2017 (AAIC® 2017) in London. The awards are given to researchers – a senior scientist and new investigator – judged to have published the best paper in any peer-reviewed journal related to the topic of in-vivo neuroimaging of a neurodegenerative process. Members of the ISTAART Neuroimaging Professional Interest Area (NPIA) are the nominating body for the two awards.

The 2017 honorees are:

Senior Scientist Award

Keith A. Johnson, M.D., is Professor of Radiology and Neurology at the Harvard Medical School, Radiologist and Director of Molecular Neuroimaging at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), Associate physician and staff neurologist in the Memory Disorders Unit at the Brigham and Women's Hospital, as well as a Clinical Associate in Neurology at the MGH. He co-directs the Harvard Aging Brain Study and Neuro-imaging Core of the Massachusetts Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, and is the founding Organizer of the Human Amyloid Imaging meeting.

Dr. Johnson is recognized for his paper titled, “Tau Positron Emission Tomographic Imaging in Aging and Early Alzheimer Disease,” which was published in the American Neurological Association - ANN NEUROL 2016;79:110–119.

Dr. Johnson’s major research interests include normal brain aging and the early diagnosis and treatment monitoring of neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and dementia with Lewy bodies.

Dr. Johnson oversees the Clinical Brain Positron Emission Tomography (PET) Service at the MGH and also practices as a neurologist that specializes in neurodegenerative disorders. He has led the amyloid and tau PET efforts at MGH.

New Investigator Award

Rik Ossenkoppele, Ph.D., Assistant Professor at the Alzheimer Center of the VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam. The award winning paper was published during his postdoctoral fellowship at the Memory and Aging Center of the University of California San Francisco, with Prof. Gil Rabinovici and Prof. William Jagust.

Dr. Ossenkoppele is recognized for his paper, “Tau PET patterns mirror clinical and neuroanatomical variability in Alzheimer’s disease," which was published in Brain 2016; 139(Pt5):1551-1567.

Currently, his research group at the VU University Medical Center utilizes various neuroimaging techniques (PET: Aβ, glucose metabolism, tau; MRI: brain atrophy and functional connectivity) to understand cognitive heterogeneity, with a specific interest in atypical presentations of Alzheimer’s disease and cognitive reserve.

Dr. Ossenkoppele is the lead author on several key publications and has received several awards, including the Young Investigator Award at the Human Amyloid Imaging meeting (2016), ISAO Postdoc Prize (2014) and the Alzheimer’s Association Award for Excellence in Research on Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders (2014).

He obtained his Ph.D. in 2013 during which he completed a six-month fellowship at the University of California Berkeley. Following his Ph.D., Dr. Ossenkoppele was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, San Francisco from 2014–2016.

The Alzheimer’s Association is committed to accelerating the global effort to eliminate Alzheimer’s disease and to recognizing the efforts of researchers who further our understanding about this devastating disease. Since 1982 the Alzheimer's Association has invested over $385 million in more than 2,500 scientific investigations. As the largest nonprofit funder of Alzheimer’s research, our International Research Grant Program is currently investing more than $100 million across 370 best-of-field active projects in 18 countries.

About AAIC
The Alzheimer’s Association International Conference® 2017 (AAIC®) is the largest international meeting dedicated to advancing dementia science. Each year, AAIC unites the world’s leading researchers, next generation investigators, clinicians and the care research community to share discoveries in basic and translational research that will lead to methods of prevention and treatment, and improvements in diagnosis for Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias.
AAIC 2017 home page: aaic.alz.org/
AAIC 2017 newsroom: aaic.alz.org/pressroom.asp

Media Contacts: 
Alzheimer's Association AAIC newsroom, +44 (0) 20-7069-6000, media@alz.org
Mike Campea, Alzheimer’s Association, 312-978-4372, mcampea@alz.org