USC Leonard Davis School professors are launching studies to examine treatments and potential treatments for Alzheimer’s disease and sarcopenia. As recipients of the 2024 Hanson-Thorell Family Research Awards, Assistant Professor Michelle Keller and Research Assistant Professor Hiroshi Kumagai each received $25,000 for one-year pilot projects aiming to improve how these two common age-related conditions might be treated and potentially lower the costs for doing so.
Keller’s study looks at new Alzheimer’s therapies and seeks to explore how doctors decide whether to prescribe them, which factors influence their decisions, and how patients from various backgrounds perceive the value and risks of these treatments.
Alzheimer’s disease is a growing health concern in the U.S., especially among older adults, with the number of affected individuals expected to nearly triple by 2050. New drugs like lecanemab offer hope by slowing disease progression, but they come with serious risks, including brain swelling and bleeding, and are very expensive. Doctors and patients must carefully weigh the benefits against these risks and costs.
“This decision-making is particularly complex for people from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds, who may have different perspectives on the risks due to factors like health literacy, access to care, and trust in the medical system,” said Keller. “Findings from this pilot study will be used as the basis for a future proposal to the National Institutes of Health and I am so grateful to have received this award to jump-start my research in this important area.”
Keller’s goal is to understand how different health systems are using new Alzheimer’s drugs and to create better ways for doctors and patients to talk about the risks and benefits of these medications. She says the research could also hold policy implications by highlighting the challenges people face in getting treatment and how much it might cost both nationally and in individual states.
Kumagai’s proposal introduces a newly discovered mitochondrial protein protein called PUTZ, that may play a role in sarcopenia, or age-related muscle loss, a major but under-researched area in aging science. The study will also investigate whether blocking this protein could be a new way to treat the condition. Sarcopenia and related frailty lead to higher health risks and cost the U.S. healthcare system about $40 billion each year.
“This research could pave the way for new treatments that not only improve health outcomes but also reduce healthcare costs,” said Kumagai. “I am so appreciative of the Hanson-Thorell family’s generosity in allowing me to advance research in this area.”
Kumagai will also evaluate whether exercise can protect against the harmful effects of PUTZ and will test this by having young and older mice, with and without the PUTZ gene, exercise on a running wheel and then check their muscle size and strength.
“The hope is that these experiments will provide essential information that could lead to a bigger, long-term project focused on developing treatments that block PUTZ to help prevent frailty and muscle loss in aging,” said Kumagai.
The Hanson-Thorell Family Research Award recognizes the importance of innovative research and encourages young scientists to push the boundaries of their fields. The award, supported in part by Board of Councilors Chair Shari Thorell and her husband Bob, originated with funding from Shari’s father and former Board of Councilors Chairman Al Hanson.
