{"id":23726,"date":"2026-05-20T08:44:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T12:44:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/?p=23726"},"modified":"2026-05-19T17:02:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T21:02:09","slug":"the-alzheimers-enigma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/2026\/05\/20\/the-alzheimers-enigma\/","title":{"rendered":"The Alzheimer\u2019s Enigma"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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THE ALZHEIMER\u2019S ENIGMA<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Inspired by a new discovery in the case of former Colgate President Rebecca Chopp, Colgate Magazine <\/em>talked to alumni physicians and researchers who are working to solve the mysteries of neurodegenerative care.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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By ALETA MAYNE<\/strong>
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She\u2019s Still<\/em> Her<\/strong><\/h2>\n

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Rebecca Chopp thought she knew how she would die.<\/p>\n

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The former president of Colgate University (2002\u201309), Chopp was diagnosed with early stage Alzheimer\u2019s disease in spring 2019.<\/p>\n

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She experienced a period of depression \u2014 \u201cI felt like I was diving into Hell,\u201d she writes in her memoir Still Me<\/em> \u2014 and had to come to terms with her career as chancellor of the University of Denver. After making the difficult decision to retire early, Chopp threw herself into Alzheimer\u2019s activism and awareness.  <\/p>\n

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\u201cOne of the hardest parts of processing the diagnosis was the challenge to the very essence of my being,\u201d she says in Still Me<\/em>. \u201cI do things for myself and take care of myself. It is the deepest personal code I have,\u201d she writes, adding that her favorite T-shirt says \u201cTell Me What You Think I Can\u2019t Do So I Can Get Started.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Chopp joined three national boards for Alzheimer\u2019s foundations, co-founded the advocacy group Voices of Alzheimer\u2019s, spoke to the media and universities (including Colgate), and wrote the memoir to give people information about the disease and how to live well.<\/p>\n

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She thought she knew: \u201cThis is my trajectory. It\u2019s written out for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

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But as the saying goes, \u201cWe plan, God laughs.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Last summer Chopp went in for a routine visit with a neurologist and her world flipped upside down \u2014 again.<\/p>\n

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The doctor told her, \u201cWe need to retest you. This is not making sense. After six years, you should be showing more symptoms, no matter how good your genes are, no matter what luck you have, no matter what you\u2019ve done.\u201d Chopp, too, had thought she should be retested going into the appointment that day. \u201cBecause of my national and local work in Alzheimer\u2019s, I know the tests have developed; there are now blood biomarkers, better PET scans, and new cognitive tests,\u201d she says. \u201cSo I was prepared to ask.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The blood biomarker test, which looks for tau and amyloid \u2014 the two proteins assessed in dementia patients \u2014 \u201ccame back with nothing \u2014 no tau and no significant amyloid plaque,\u201d Chopp says. \u201cAnd that was shocking. Both [the neurologist] and I expected there to be some, and I assumed we were going to hear, \u2018you\u2019re really lucky, it\u2019s progressing really slowly.\u2019 But it indeed came back with at least this biochemical suggestion that I didn\u2019t have Alzheimer\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n

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After months of further testing, including assessments for other cognitive disorders, \u201cmy tests indicated that I was perfectly fine,\u201d Chopp says. \u201cI was gobsmacked. I could not get my mind around it.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The first question, of course, is: What happened?<\/p>\n

The short answer is, the doctors don\u2019t know for sure. Chopp went to three different neurologists six years ago, and they all agreed that her scans and tests were indicative of Alzheimer\u2019s. The doctors are hypothesizing now that a lesion on her brain, which they believe has been present since she was in the womb, could have been triggered by the lifestyle that her high-pressure positions demanded over the years (leader of Colgate, Swarthmore College, then University of Denver). She admits that she prided herself on \u201cneeding\u201d just a few hours of sleep per night, for example, and the stress of her career could have compounded her symptoms. \u201cBut [my neurologist] said, and I would underscore, that is pure speculation.\u201d <\/p>\n

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The second question for Chopp was: \u201cWho am I now?\u201d<\/p>\n

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In Still Me<\/em>, she recalls how she felt after receiving her Alzheimer\u2019s diagnosis: \u201cHow and where I had built so much of my identity was now in the past.\u201d These feelings resurfaced with this latest news. Today, she says, \u201cI chose to use my pain, my frustration to become an advocate and an educator. Then, this goes away, and it was kind of like, what?! Everything I do has to do with this. I am the woman with Alzheimer\u2019s who\u2019s going to try to make a difference. And then all of a sudden, whoops!\u201d<\/p>\n

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She also worried about how people would perceive her integrity. \u201cThat has been the hardest thing,\u201d Chopp says. \u201cI\u2019ve been out there on the front lines, on these national boards representing Alzheimer\u2019s, giving speeches, writing a book\u2026\u201d But \u201cI have had help in thinking about that from a number of people, including neurologists who use my book and other organizations who say the book is still valid. It\u2019s all true and still incredibly helpful.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Unexpectedly, one emotion Chopp has not felt much of is anger: \u201cThese doctors made a good faith effort. And for some reason, my body probably was saying, \u2018You can\u2019t do this anymore.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

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She\u2019s now accepted this new stage of her life, with a rededication to her activism work. \u201cI lived thinking I had this disease for many years, and I\u2019ve done a lot of research and put a lot of energy into it. More than ever, I want people to go get tested, learn about your brain, live a healthy life, raise money for research.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Chopp will continue with her brain-healthy lifestyle by staying active physically, mentally, and creatively. She\u2019s been learning to paint over the years and is now dipping into oil painting, \u201cwhich I love, love, love. The colors are so beautiful.\u201d Hiking is another one of Chopp\u2019s favorite hobbies, and she goes outdoors a few times a week near her home in Colorado, \u201cwhich is fun, fun, fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Now that she feels like much of her cognitive ability is restored, she\u2019s started reading philosophy books and novels again. She continues to volunteer, participate in Voices of Alzheimer\u2019s, and give lectures. Chopp says she\u2019s \u201ctrying to stay busy, but happy and relaxed.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Although her case sounds like a fluke or a miracle, Chopp has learned from some doctors and researchers that the situation is not completely unique \u2014 there are cases where Alzheimer\u2019s seems to have been reversed or misdiagnosed. She also has heard of, and has friends who have experienced, a misdiagnosis where the patients may have another type of dementia. <\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s important to remember that science really didn\u2019t have the tools to do almost any Alzheimer\u2019s diagnosis until the last 10, 15, 20 years,\u201d she says. \u201cBefore that, it was very rare, and it usually occurred when people were in the final stages.\u201d Even Chopp\u2019s own mother, for example, wasn\u2019t diagnosed until the disease had progressed to the point where she was having hallucinations.<\/p>\n

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Chopp\u2019s story motivated Colgate Magazine<\/em> to reach out to a few alumni working in the field.  <\/p>\n

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An App to Detect Early Warning Signs<\/strong><\/h3>\n

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Anecdotally, Chopp has learned that her case was not entirely unique, but a February article in the Wall Street Journal<\/em> highlighted an increasing number of patients who had been diagnosed with Alzheimer\u2019s and later found out they did not have the disease. Each case varies, but the phenomenon calls into question: How is Alzheimer\u2019s being diagnosed? <\/p>\n

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\u201cDivergent diagnoses for Alzheimer\u2019s are the result of different criteria for diagnosing the disease,\u201d the Wall Street Journal<\/em> reports. Doctors don\u2019t always agree on whether to rely mainly on the presence of the brain protein amyloid, as the Alzheimer\u2019s Association 2024 criteria for diagnosis suggests; or whether to follow the three-prong criteria established by the International Working Group \u2014 the presence of amyloid, tau, and cognitive symptoms. Further complicating diagnoses, symptoms can be varying and subjective and could be caused by something else, like the theory about Chopp\u2019s brain lesion or vascular disease of the brain. Lastly, what if, by the time symptoms present, it\u2019s too late?<\/p>\n

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Dr. Pankaj Gupta \u201988 is a Harvard-trained geriatrician who now works in managed care, and he stresses that \u201cdiagnosing Alzheimer\u2019s holistically<\/em> is essential.\u201d Gupta\u2019s health care technology start-up is developing a patent-pending app that he hopes can be one piece of that puzzle \u2014 before it is too late.<\/p>\n

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Called LexisMD, the app uses machine learning and large language models to detect whether the user is at risk for mild cognitive impairment (MCI) \u2014 which, for some, can be an early sign of dementia.<\/p>\n

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Gupta asserts: \u201cUp to 40% of MCI cases are reversible.\u201d Studies have shown that symptoms can improve with lifestyle changes, including diet, good sleep habits, mental health, and physical activity.<\/p>\n

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The app is a risk-assessment tool that evaluates your risk of having MCI through language patterns, such as pauses, how long it takes the user to complete a sentence, and word finding. It is not a diagnostic tool, but it could help with prevention by encouraging people to talk to their doctors. <\/p>\n

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\u201cWhen I got into geriatrics, I saw so many patients who already had full-blown dementia,\u201d Gupta says. \u201cThat made me think, I want to focus on the stage before dementia.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Working in managed care, Gupta understands how difficult it can be to navigate insurance and approvals. In fact, that was his motivation to earn an MBA from Cornell and change course after practicing medicine: \u201cI wanted a larger stage because I felt the elderly were disadvantaged. The health care system in this country is like a maze.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The app, he believes, serves as an easy and accessible tool for people. \u201cThere\u2019s so much respected scientific literature about language patterns and MCI,\u201d he says. \u201cSo why not make an app that puts it all together to monitor your risk of having MCI \u2014 in the comfort of your home and while talking on your cell phone?\u201d<\/p>\n

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Gupta concludes: \u201cI want this country and the world to be prepared. [I want people to be able to] do estate planning, retirement planning, etc. But the key word is planning<\/em> \u2014 being proactive.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Using AI to Assess MRI Scans<\/strong><\/h3>\n

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Measuring blood-based biomarkers, as was used last summer to reassess Chopp\u2019s case, is one way researchers are hoping to improve Alzheimer\u2019s diagnosis. Another is by using artificial intelligence, which Avi Chandra \u201911 is studying as a postdoctoral research associate at Queen Mary University of London.<\/p>\n

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In the United Kingdom, one in two people will be directly affected by dementia \u2014 either through caring for someone with the condition, developing it themselves, or both \u2014 according to Alzheimer\u2019s Research U.K. \u201cThere are people in this country who are living with dementia but don\u2019t have a diagnosis, and they aren\u2019t getting the treatment or the support they need,\u201d Chandra says.<\/p>\n

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He\u2019s part of a team, supported by the National Institute for Health and Care Research, that is gauging the efficacy of AI in getting an earlier and more accurate diagnosis of dementia. They\u2019re applying AI to MRI images to pick up subtle patterns in the brain over time \u2014 to find small changes that doctors or radiologists might not be able to see. \u201cThe technology we\u2019re testing shows about 92% accuracy in predicting whether someone will develop dementia,\u201d Chandra says.<\/p>\n

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For his part, Chandra has been collecting real-world data by seeing patients in person and gathering data retrospectively from the National Health Service in England. \u201cWe\u2019re looking at patients who have been to the memory clinic who have received a diagnosis of some kind of cognitive impairment, and basically we\u2019re seeing if the technology replicates in this real-world cohort,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe aim is to improve the time it takes and the accuracy for getting a dementia diagnosis,\u201d Chandra continues. \u201cIn the U.K., patients need to be followed up with for at least one to two years before they can be certain of a dementia diagnosis. This is a crucial period for planning, eligibility, and treatments and support, so we\u2019re trying to give doctors another tool by using AI to hopefully diagnose dementia sooner.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Independently, Chandra is studying the \u201cmodifiable lifestyle risk factors for dementia,\u201d and he\u2019s published papers looking at how those are related to the pathology or neurotoxicity that underlies Alzheimer\u2019s. One of the lifestyle risk factors he\u2019s examined is people who are widowed or divorced. \u201cI found that they had lower memory scores relative to people who were married,\u201d Chandra says. \u201cThis was mediated by amyloid beta protein levels, indicating that there might be some neuropathological component or outcome consequence that results from the stress of being widowed or divorced that might increase dementia risk.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Last year Chandra also published a paper on the relationship between hearing loss and Alzheimer\u2019s. \u201cWe found that central hearing loss \u2014 not just peripheral, not just detecting a sound, but detecting a sound with background noise or discriminating between two different stimuli in either ear \u2014 was linked to tau protein, which is one of the contributing factors, we believe, to the brain cell loss in Alzheimer\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n

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In addition Chandra investigates risk factors related to genetics, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. \u201cAs a postdoc, I do a lot of different things,\u201d he acknowledges.<\/p>\n

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Outside of his research, Chandra does public engagement work. \u201cIt\u2019s important to go beyond the papers and translate them to the real world,\u201d he says. He offers his expertise to the media, and he and a colleague have been visiting South Asian religious centers to give dementia awareness workshops.<\/p>\n

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At Colgate Chandra was an economics major, but in his sophomore year he took a psychology course and \u201cfell in love with the brain.\u201d He added neuroscience courses to his schedule, conducted lab work with Professor Spencer Kelly, and wrote a thesis with Professor Rebecca Shiner. \u201cAfterward, I knew research was the path I wanted to go down,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

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Chandra went on to earn his PhD at King\u2019s College London, and he soon realized, \u201cI wanted to do something that had a societal impact.\u201d Also, his grandmother was diagnosed with dementia, and \u201cI found out firsthand how devastating dementia was.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Although Chandra is based in the U.K., he\u2019s part of the DEMON network, an international group of people who are collaborating to identify innovative approaches to interdisciplinary dementia research across multiple institutions using data science and AI.<\/p>\n

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A Global Lens<\/strong><\/h3>\n

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Taking a worldwide view of Alzheimer\u2019s could provide valuable insights. At the National Institute on Aging (NIA), Minki Chatterji \u201989 is part of the National Institutes of Health\u2019s (NIH) effort to support international research on the disease. \u201cWe believe cross-national comparisons of different contexts and how they influence outcomes can help us learn a lot about causes of the disease that will also help older people in the U.S.,\u201d Chatterji says.<\/p>\n

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As a program officer, she oversees a portfolio of grants to U.S. and international institutions studying aging, specifically Alzheimer\u2019s disease (AD) and Alzheimer\u2019s Disease Related Dementias (ADRD). She also oversees a portfolio of grants on how Medicare and Medicaid influence access, cost, and use of health care by older adults in the U.S., with an emphasis on AD\/ADRD. <\/p>\n

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The 73 grants in Chatterji\u2019s portfolio are valued at more than $60 million.<\/p>\n

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The NIA has supported research in more than 50 countries; Chatterji\u2019s portfolio includes studies in Latin America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. Her work has brought her to the Austrian Alps, the American University of Cairo, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi, and places in between.<\/p>\n

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A program officer\u2019s role: <\/strong>\u201cWe act as the liaison between the NIH and researchers. We guide investigators through the application process, evaluate scientific aims for alignment with institute priorities, monitor ongoing funded research, and make recommendations on funding decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Her portfolio includes: <\/strong>\u201cNational representative studies, including a set of established cognitive and neuropsychological assessments and informant reports to better characterize cognitive function among older people. These studies also include collection of data on risk factors related to AD\/ADRD and dementia. Many of these studies also include collection of AD blood-based biomarkers and genomic data collection.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Some findings<\/strong>: \u201cWe\u2019ve found that dementia prevalence is higher in the U.S. than it is in England, and there are bigger differences if you compare rich people and poor people, or compare less educated with more educated people \u2014 those differences are bigger in the U.S. than in England. Another study did a national comparison of negative wealth shocks (when a household loses a lot of money), and they showed that in older adults in the U.S., even if they experienced that wealth shock decades before, their cognition was worse than older adults in England. We hypothesize that this is because, in England, they have a better safety net. In a study in South Africa, they found that giving cash transfers to households slowed memory decline and reduced dementia risk among older adults. There are also a lot of studies recently on pollution, which India has, and it\u2019s fascinating how they found that different types of particulate matter increase the instances of dementia.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Dementia defined:<\/strong> \u201cDementia is a general term for cognitive decline, and there are many brain disorders that cause this condition \u2014 the most common are Alzheimer\u2019s disease, vascular dementia, Lewy body dementia, and frontotemporal dementia. Most people suffering from clinically diagnosed dementia have mixed pathologies, meaning their dementia is caused by more than one type of brain change.\u201d<\/p>\n

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An evolving picture:<\/strong> \u201cOur understanding of the biological basis and pathways of AD\/ADRD is complex and our understanding is evolving. That\u2019s why, even though we\u2019ve made some advances in treatment, the clinical benefits currently remain modest. However, to crack the nut of the biological basis, NIA is focusing on all different pathways. We don\u2019t know [for example] if amyloid plaque causes the dementia or whether it\u2019s just associated with dementia. Another issue is we need more early diagnosis tools, so we\u2019re funding things like that too.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The bottom line:<\/strong> \u201cEven though we have some general ideas of risk factors for AD\/ADRD \u2014 like stress or social connection or environmental factors \u2014 we lack large-scale public health strategies. That would save a lot of money, but we\u2019re not there yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Chatterji majored in history and EAst Asian studies at Colgate before earning her master’s in Southeast Asian studies at Cornell and a PhD in demography from UC Berkeley. She says the inspiration for her work was Colgate’s Japan Study Group: “That was really pivotal. It got me interested in foreign cultures, foreign languages, and seeing different parts of the world”<\/em><\/p>\n

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The Promise of Stem Cell Therapy<\/strong><\/h3>\n

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If you have a broken refrigerator and your food is spoiling, would you just remove the spoiled food and keep your broken refrigerator? \u201cNo, you have to fix the refrigerator,\u201d says Dr. Christopher Duma \u201981, a neurosurgeon in Newport Beach, Calif. <\/p>\n

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Duma is head of the brain tumor program at Hoag Hospital, where he also performs neurosurgery on patients with Parkinson\u2019s disease. In his free time, he\u2019s invented what he believes might be a fix for Alzheimer\u2019s.<\/p>\n

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The technique he\u2019s invented injects stem cells into the brain through an Ommaya reservoir, a neurosurgery device the size of a quarter that\u2019s placed under the scalp and allows repeat administration of medicines.<\/p>\n

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\u201cAlzheimer\u2019s disease [involves] all these different problems: inflammation, P-tau, beta, oxidative stress,\u201d he says. Existing pharmaceuticals aren\u2019t a good treatment option, according to Duma, calling into question their effectiveness and the danger of side effects. \u201cBig pharma is targeting just one of the problems [amyloid plaque]. You need to target everything. And in my neurosurgical mind, I thought, a stem cell is the only thing that can do this.\u201d<\/p>\n

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He goes on to explain: \u201cMost people do not know that our brains are hollow in the middle, [like] a honeydew melon. [Our brains] have hollow cavities called ventricles, and they produce the cerebrospinal fluid that bathes every nook and cranny of our brains. Cerebrospinal fluid is like spring water, and it\u2019s a constant circulation that\u2019s literally giving us a \u2018brainwashing.\u2019 We can use this fluid to deliver the stem cells throughout the entire brain. Interestingly, right next to the ventricle, we all have stem cells sitting there, waiting to be awakened.\u201d There is a barrier at the edge of the ventricle that, as we age, becomes porous. \u201cSo if you injected stem cells in there, it\u2019s quite likely it will get through and be able to stimulate those dormant stem cells,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n

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Duma continues: \u201cA substance called Wnt is a signaling protein that if it\u2019s being exhibited on a stem cell, that expressing Wnt stem cell can go to another stem cell, and that is the signal for that next stem cell to turn on. Then that stem cell gets turned on and another one gets turned on in the same wave.\u201d The Wnt wave, he says, is \u201clike being at a football game and people start the wave. It is a way to resurrect these little dormant stem cells living in the wall of the ventricle and get them to be active. <\/p>\n

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\u201cWhat we know of stem cells is, once they\u2019re active, they can seek out areas of damage and repair them. That\u2019s their job, and they have all the genetic material to create what they\u2019re supposed to create in that environment. They\u2019re extremely powerful.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Duma formed Regeneration Biomedical to house lab space and attract investors for clinical trials. His technique uses patients\u2019 own, non-modified stem cells, and he completed a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Phase 1 clinical trial with six people. They were all in the middle to advanced stages of the disease and had cognitive mini-mental state examination (MMSE; a test used to check for cognitive impairment) scores as low as a 9 on a scale of 1\u201330. After one year of injections, some were scoring at 19\u201320, \u201ca result that has yet to be seen with any existing FDA-approved treatment in the Institutional Review Board\u2013approved research,\u201d according to Regeneration Biomedical\u2019s website. The results have shown \u201ca leveling off\u201d in scores, requiring booster shots every two months for the first two years, \u201cand then potentially at intervals further apart.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Duma says: \u201cWe had zero complications. The patients didn\u2019t even get a headache when we injected the cells. We also saw amyloid PET scan improvement in almost all of them with a single injection. We are also normalizing the tau protein with every single patient.\u201d On the Alzheimer\u2019s Disease Assessment Scale-Cognitive Subscale, patients\u2019 scores also improved. He\u2019s been presenting these findings at conferences around the world.  <\/p>\n

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The FDA has approved a Phase 2, multicenter trial; Duma has five hospitals on board and is looking for investors. One of his investors in the first trial was the husband of a woman who participated in the trial, \u201cbecause he saw how well we did with [her],\u201d Duma says.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

He hopes this treatment will have potential for other diseases, too, including ALS, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson\u2019s, and even traumatic brain injury. \u201cThere is not one neurodegenerative disease that we don\u2019t think we can actually work on,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

An avid musician, Duma started a nonprofit called Music Heals to help patients with Parkinson’s and autism. He’s also the front man for a rock band called The Circle of Willis, named after an anatomical structure in the brain.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

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Decoding the Disease<\/b><\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

T<\/span>o analyze genetic data and identify patterns associated with Alzheimer\u2019s disease (AD), researchers have been utilizing machine learning in recent years. Lola Garrigue \u201926 and Aryeh Andriola \u201926 have been using this tool for their senior thesis. They began their work in the fall, starting with a data set of 21 brains donated postmortem in the U.K. from those who were diagnosed with AD and healthy individuals.<\/p>\n

\u201c[We wanted] to build a system that can identify genes that might help with understanding Alzheimer\u2019s at a deeper level,\u201d Andriola says.<\/p>\n

Their intention was to create a pipeline that could detect genes associated with Alzheimer\u2019s based on single-nucleus RNA-sequencing data; they knew their code was successful when known genes showed up. Their pipeline included clustering the data by cell type, then identifying the differential expressed genes between Alzheimer\u2019s and healthy control in each cell type, and lastly they used machine learning to determine which cell types were most predictive of Alzheimer\u2019s, indicating genes of interest for further research.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Machine learning identified five high-performing cell types, whose downstream enrichment analysis revealed overlapping pathways and ontologies related to neuronal-differentiation maintenance and intracellular signaling. These findings indicate catastrophic signaling failure between cells in the brain, which deeply impacts brain function and longevity.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>The students emphasize that their data is preliminary and limited due to the fact that it is based on only 21 subjects. However, to even study 21 subjects, Garrigue and Andriola spent many long nights in the lab and had to tap into the power of Colgate\u2019s supercomputer. They worked with IT to install the software onto the supercomputer, wrote the code and script to get it working, and then accessed the supercomputer (housed in Case Library) through their own computers.<\/span><\/p>\n

The catalyst for this project was Professor of Biology and Mathematics Ahmet Ay, who let the students take the lead while guiding them through uncertain territory. \u201cHe has a vast knowledge of statistical analysis,\u201d Andriola says. Ay served as a sounding board, \u201cbut if we really started to veer off, he\u2019d say, \u2018You\u2019ve gone too far \u2014 get back on track,\u2019\u201d Garrigue adds.<\/p>\n

She is applying for postgrad research positions, and Andriola will pursue a PhD in chemistry. Hooked on this project, they hope to continue their research this summer by accessing the supercomputer through a virtual private network.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Alumni physicians and researchers are working to solve the mysteries of neurodegenerative care.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1260,"featured_media":23742,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[3839,2338,285,3841,3840],"coauthors":[388],"class_list":["post-23726","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-features","tag-alzheimer","tag-alzheimers-disease","tag-medicine","tag-neurodegenerative","tag-rebecca-chopp"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/palXSH-6aG","amp_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/04\/Alzheimers-main.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23726","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1260"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23726"}],"version-history":[{"count":85,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23726\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26156,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23726\/revisions\/26156"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23742"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23726"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23726"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23726"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=23726"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}