Sanders-Brown Center On Aging

Sanders-Brown Faculty

 

CONTACT INFORMATION

181 West Lowry Lane, Suite A-B
Lexington, KY 40503

E-MAIL: DSnowdon@NunStudy.mi8.com
PHONE: (859) 257-1527
FAX: (859) 257-1104

Dr. David A. Snowdon

David A. Snowdon, Ph.D., M.P.H., M.S., B.S.

Professor

Departmental Affiliation(s):

Neurology and Sanders-Brown Center on Aging

School Sisters of Notre Dame Left to right: Sister Sue Von Bank, Sister Gabriel Mary Spaeth (current Field Gerontologists) and Sister Marlene Manney (former Field Gerontologist).

Research Interests:

The Nun Study is a longitudinal study of aging and Alzheimer's disease funded by the National Institute on Aging. Participants are 678 American members of the School Sisters of Notre Dame religious congregation who were 75 to 102 years old at the beginning of the study in 1990. There are three basic sources of information available in the Nun Study. First, convent archives provide a wealth of information about potential early, mid, and late life risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease and other disabling conditions. Second, annual exams of each participant document changes in their mental and physical function during the last years of their lives. Finally, because each of the sisters agreed to brain donation at death, the information garnered from the convent archives and annual exams are compared to the structure and pathology of the brain. Research from the Nun Study continues to support the idea that aging and Alzheimer’s disease is a consequence of a long chain of events that begins at a young age and continues throughout middle and older ages.

Photo of Dr. Snowdon and his lab crew

IN THE LAB

Kathryn P. Riley (Associate Professor, Department of Preventive Medicine & Environmental Health).

Mark F. Desrosiers (Scientist), Mary Roycraft (Administrative Research Assistant).


Recent Publications:

Grossi E, Buscema MP, Snowdon D, Antuono P. Neuropathological findings processed by artificial neural networks (ANNs) can perfectly distinguish Alzheimer's patients from controls in the Nun Study. BMC Neurol 7: 15, 2007.

Tyas SL, Salazar JC, Snowdon DA, Desrosiers MF, Riley KP, Mendiondo MS, Kryscio RJ. Transitions to mild cognitive impairments, dementia, and death: findings from the Nun Study. Am J Epidemiol 165: 1231-1238, 2007.

Tyas SL, Snowdon DA, Desrosiers MF, Riley KP, Markesbery WR. Healthy ageing in the Nun Study: definition and neuropathologic correlates. Age Ageing 36: 650-655, 2007.