Researchers at Columbia University Medical Center recently conducted a study examining brains of a number of different ages donated by people who died without signs of neurologic disease. During the course of the investigation, researchers came to the conclusion that a certain hippocampus gene’s function deteriorates in older people. The researchers believe that age-related memory loss is distinct condition from Alzheimer’s or pre-Alzheimer’s, and that the condition may be treatable in the future.
“As we want to live longer and stay engaged in a cognitively complex world, I think even mild age-related memory decline is meaningful,” said Columbia neurologist Dr. Scott Small, a senior author of the study. “It opens up a whole avenue of investigation to now try to identify interventions.”
To investigate the causes of age-related memory loss further, researchers investigated the issue in mice, who also become forgetful in old age. According to an article in The Washington Post, the researchers found that the loss of a protein named RbAp48 resulted in mice losing their way in familiar mazes and doing a worse job with memory-related tasks. What was truly exciting about the researchers’ work was that the memory loss was reversible. By boosting the RbAp48 protein, the mice regained their memories and were as good at memory-related tasks as younger mice.
Armory Track and Field Center BioResearch Product Faire™ Event
Columbia University 2012
Columbia University conducts research in a number of life science fields, and the university’s researchers certainly make important contributions to collective scientific knowledge. Lab suppliers interested in marketing life science products and lab products at New York life science marketing events may want to learn more about Columbia University’s recent research funding statistics. In 2012, the NIH awarded Columbia University $364 million in research funding. That funding was distributed among a number of life science departments at the university. The top funded department was internal medicine, which received 138 awards totaling $77.1 million from the NIH.
In addition to receiving a great deal of funding from the NIH, Columbia University also received a sizable amount of research money from the NSF. The NSF awarded Columbia University $95 million in 2012. The project receiving the most NSF funding in the life sciences concerned climate change education and received $750,000 in research funding.
Given the impressive amount of funding available at Columbia University, lab suppliers marketing life science products and lab products may be interested in upcoming New York life science marketing events. Biotechnology Calendar, Inc. invites all lab suppliers to network with researchers, lab managers and purchasing agents at our Armory Track and Field Center BioResearch Product Faire™ Event, held adjacent from the Columbia University Medical Center, on October 1, 2013. Last year, the Armory Track and Field Center BioResearch Product Faire™ attracted 266 attendees. Seventy-two of the attendees were purchasing agents, professors and post docs, and 43 were lab managers. The visitors came from 19 different research buildings and 48 departments across campus.
Biotechnology Calendar Inc. is a full-service science research marketing and events-planning company that organizes life science marketing events at top research universities across the country. If you are interested in marketing your life science products and lab products at life science marketing events closer to home, we encourage you to view our 2013 calendar of events. For more information on our Armory Track and Field Center BioResearch Product Faire™ Event, or to view more detailed funding statistics for Columbia University, click on the button below.