The Brown Brain Tissue Resource Center Director, Dr. Edward Stopa, is a neuropathologist who works closely with other doctors to assure proper handling and appropriate use of the material. He has years of experience in brain tissue banking, during which he has served as consultant to psychiatric research centers, including McLean Hospital (Harvard Brain Tissue Resource Center), one of the two largest brain banks in this country.

He lectures extensively on a variety of brain bank-related topics, including the funding of brain banks and the importance of controls. His research in Alzheimer’s disease and dementia often utilizes the brain bank specimens. In one study, a protein called “agrin” was identified in the neurofibrillary tangles of Alzheimer’s cases, many of whom had the APOE mutation present in the familial form of the disease. Dr. Stopa and associates are also working to characterize the role of growth factors in Normal-pressure hydrocephalus (NPH), a syndrome of abnormal gait and urinary problems often seen in association with Alzheimer’s disease. These and other studies utilize the donor specimens from the Brown University Medical School BTRC..