MetLife Foundation has presented its 2006 Award for Medical Research in Alzheimer’s Disease to Karen Hsiao Ashe, M.D., Ph.D. The award honors her groundbreaking development of genetically engineered mice that produce human forms of proteins linked to Alzheimer’s disease and other devastating neurological disorders.

In 1996, her group announced the first mouse successfully engineered to develop brain deposits of beta-amyloid, a protein fragment considered a prime Alzheimer suspect. The mice also experienced memory impairment as they aged. Mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease have since become indispensable tools for studying Alzheimer pathology and testing experimental treatments.

The MetLife award recognizes her technical achievement as well as her generosity in sharing the animals with other researchers. Ashe, who is affiliated with the University of Minnesota Medical School and the Minneapolis Veterans’ Administration Center, has also received Alzheimer’s Association funding for her work.

MetLife also honored Frank LaFerla, Ph.D., of the University of California, Irvine, with a Promising Work award. LaFerla’s work aims to unravel the precise molecular steps involved in Alzheimer’s. His team has developed a new line of mice with three variations of human genes associated with the disease. These mice seem to experience Alzheimer-like brain changes in a sequence that closely mimics the human course of the disorder. As a result, the mice may provide a clearer picture of the molecular basis of dementia and an improved means for studying new treatments. The Alzheimer’s Association has supported LaFerla’s work through a 2002 research grant and a 2005 Zenith Fellows Award.

Also receiving Promising Work recognition was Christian Haass, Ph.D., of Munich’s Ludwig Maximilians University. Haass focuses on understanding how beta-amyloid fragments are produced and deposited in the brain.