Jackson Laboratory

JAX Center for Alzheimer's and Dementia Research

Living The Longest Day

In what has become an annual event, our team set out across Maine's Mount Desert Island to participate in The Longest Day and raise funds for the Alzheimer's Association.

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Finding ways to TREAT Alzheimer's disease

The quest to find a cure for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) has almost entirely met with failure at the clinical trial stage. Nonetheless, there have been research advances, particularly during the last few years, that are laying the foundation for progress in the years ahead.

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Preclinical training for the next generation of Alzheimer experts

Natural genetic variation determines microglia heterogeneity in wild-derived mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease.

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The JAX Center for Alzheimer’s and Dementia Research focusses on the origins, progression, and treatments of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias using the mouse as a model organism.

Support Our Research

The JAX AD center aims to develop a truly integrated approach to studying AD that includes:

Multi-scale comparative analyses that rigorously test mouse-to-human alignment across diverse data modalities and layers of biological function;
Innovative technologies – both experimental and computational – that are designed to fully exploit the experimental tractability of model systems to better understand gene-by-environment interactions on disease outcomes;
Broad and uniform experimental designs to identify common functional mechanisms that underlie multiple diseases and comorbidities;
Expanded clinical and experimental study frameworks that include cognitive reserve, resistance to pathology, and resilience to clinical symptoms of neurodegenerative dementias.

Through these efforts, our goal is to nucleate a new synthesis of experimental and observational resources to generate advanced translational science.

ArticleJuly 29, 2024
MODEL-AD drives progress for Alzheimer’s research
The July issue of Alzheimer’s & Dementia spotlights progress by MODEL-AD and its work to create better models for Alzheimer’s disease research and catalyze progress in the field.
- Alzheimer's Disease
- Aging
- CADR
- Aging
Research HighlightSeptember 27, 2023
Exploring how genetics affects Alzheimer's disease
A research team led by Assistant Professor Erik Bloss and Professor Gareth Howell, and including predoctoral associate Sarah Heuer, explores how different genetic contexts affect the impact of early-stage Alzheimer's disease on neuronal circuits.
Press ReleaseAugust 08, 2022
New web portal gives scientists access to neurodegenerative disease iPSC lines
The Jackson Laboratory, in partnership with the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and the National Institute for Health, is now offering a catalog of human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs).
- Alzheimer's Disease
- CADR
Press ReleaseJune 15, 2022
Alzheimer's Association awards research grant to JAX researcher
The Alzheimer's Association has awarded Harpreet Kaur, Ph.D., a 2022 Research Fellowship grant.
- Alzheimer's Disease
- CADR

Featured ArticleNovember 21, 2023
Advancing Alzheimer's disease research
To solve Alzheimer’s disease, JAX's Kristen O'Connell is working to understand the biological factors that cause it.
Research HighlightSeptember 20, 2022
Collaborating to improve the lives of Alzheimer's patients
Kristen Onos is a key player in developing drug testing pipelines to determine outcomes of potential Alzheimer’s disease treatments and preventatives.
- Alzheimer's Disease
- CADR
Research HighlightJune 30, 2022
The connection between APOE, exercise and Alzheimer's disease
A research team led by Professor Gareth Howell, Ph.D., and Kate Foley, Ph.D., a former graduate student in his lab, used mice to investigate just how exercise, in this case running, affects many traits associated with Alzheimer’s disease in their brains and their bodies.
- Alzheimer's Disease
- CADR
Research HighlightApril 20, 2022
Investigating the genetics of Alzheimer's with new disease models
MODEL-AD is working to develop and make accessible mouse models useful for Alzheimer's disease and dementia research.