News of 2021

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  • February - March 2021: Three new manuscripts are now out: Joost published his work on norepinephrine metabolism and Alzheimer's disease related cognitive decline; Roy published his work on norepinephrine metabolism and cortical thickness and Linda published her work on sympathetic nervous system activity and practice effects. Congrats!!!
  • ​March 25, 2021: JOB OPENING 1: ​We are looking for a postdoctoral fellow to join our group in Boston at MGH/HMS! The project is focused on 7TfMRI of the locus coeruleus combined with transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation in individuals at risk of Alzheimer's disease.  This is closed now.
  • ​April 2, 2021: JOB OPENING 2: ​We are looking for a postdoctoral fellow to join our group in Boston at MGH/HMS! The project is focused on novel methods in brainstem PET and diffusion imaging to examine tau propagation. This is closed now.
  • ​​April 15, 2021: Maxime Van Egroo was awarded a Brightfocus postdoctoral fellowship to examine the relationship between the locus coeruleus and sleep-wake regulation in aging and Alzheimer's disease. We are all very proud of Maxime, congratulations!! 
  • May - June 2021: Heidi is giving a talk at the ISMRM 2021 meeting (current state of the art of brainstem imaging in ageing and Alzheimer's disease) and the OHBM 2021 meeting (Elucidating the contribution of structural and functional locus coeruleus changes to the pathology and cognitive decline in Alzheimer's disease). Come and discuss with us the latest of the work of our lab!
  • July 2021: The Alzheimer's Association International Conference (AAIC) is taking place in Denver and online! Maxime will present work on nocturnal awakenings and locus coeruleus structure. Whitney will present autopsy work relating locus coeruleus degeneration to CAA pathology, and Heidi will present work on the locus coeruleus structure in autosomal dominant Alzheimer's disease. Come and join our discussions! 
  • August 2021: Welcome to three new blue spotters in Boston who are all working on the WALLe project (transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation, 7T fMRI and cognition): Lindsay Smegal started as our clinical research coordinator, Julia Hayden as clinical research project manager and Christoph Schneider as postdoctoral fellow. In Maastricht, we welcome Jolien van der Velden as research assistant on the STRAIN study.
  • September 2021: Our latest work was published in Science Translational Medicine! Using in vivo neuroimaging and postmortem data we showed that locus coeruleus changes are not merely age-related but related to initial tau accumulation and AD-related memory decline. See the interview on Dutch National Television (Atlas, starts at 22:14). ​Read more about our work on: Technology Networks ; Health Day ; Alzforum
  • September 2021: Maxime's work on the relationship between locus coeruleus integrity and nocturnal awakenings, and the potential effect modification by new plasma biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease is now published at Alzheimer's Research and Therapy. Congratulations Maxime!!
  • December 2021: Heidi will talk at the Emory Alzheimer's disease Research Center on "Locus Coeruleus imaging: towards very early detection and prevention of Alzheimer's disease"