10/16 Conference Call/Webinar: Update on DS Cognition Research & Clinical Trials

Register today! Wed, Oct 16, 2013  1:00 pm ET/10:00 am PT Cost: Free This webinar brought to you by: Down Syndrome Affiliates in Action and Down Syndrome Research and Treatment Foundation The Research Landscape: Update on DS Cognition Research and Ongoing Clinical Trials Available to Nonmembers!  Down syndrome cognition research holds enormous potential for people with Ds — but have your members heard? This webinar will give affiliate leaders and members of the Down syndrome community the information families need about how science is working to deliver increased opportunity, independence, and fulfillment to individuals with Down syndrome. Researchers are making great strides towards delivering improved learning, memory and speech, and towards preventing the additional cognitive decline people with Ds experience as they age. Find out about this progress, including ongoing clinical trials, when we detail recent significant advances in the field of Down syndrome cognition research in this free online discussion. This informative, accessible presentation is designed specifically to prepare you with accurate, up-to-date information, and will cover: How to communicate the latest research advances and their significance for individuals with Down syndrome in enhancing their daily lives; How the Down syndrome community is essential to achieving successful new therapies, and what you can do to get involved; How participation by individuals with Down syndrome benefits not only people with Ds but also benefits those in the broader community; How working together to leverage support can significantly increase funding for Down syndrome research, and speed the development of safe, effective therapies to improve quality of life for people with Ds. We hope you will join us for this free webinar to help you learn more about the significant advances and exciting progress that is currently underway.  Register today:  https://dsaia.clickwebinar.com/The_Research_Landscape/register?lang=en

FDA-approved formoterol drug improves cognitive function in mouse model of Down syndrome

from News Medical:
An existing FDA-approved drug improves cognitive function in a mouse model of Down syndrome, according to a new study by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine.
The drug, an asthma medication called formoterol, strengthened nerve connections in the hippocampus, a brain center used for spatial navigation, paying attention and forming new memories, the study said. It also improved contextual learning, in which the brain integrates spatial and sensory information.
Both hippocampal function and contextual learning, which are impaired in Down syndrome, depend on the brain having a good supply of the neurotransmitter norepinephrine. This neurotransmitter sends its signal via several types of receptors on the neurons, including a group called beta-2 adrenergic receptors.

Linda Crnic Institute for Down Syndrome Co-Hosts Workshop on Cognition in Down Syndrome in Washington, D.C., on April 13-15

Workshop will bring top scientists together to share discoveries, explore collaborations
from the Herald Online:
The Linda Crnic Institute for Down Syndrome will co-host the “Workshop on Cognition in Down Syndrome – Molecular, Cellular and Behavioral Features and the Promise of Pharmacotherapies” April 13-15 in Washington, D.C. The workshop will bring top scientists together to share discoveries and explore collaborations with the aim to improve the lives of people with Down syndrome.

Katheleen Gardiner, Ph.D., a professor at the Crnic Institute and the University of Colorado School of Medicine’s Department of Pediatrics, is the workshop’s organizer. This is the third international workshop she has organized on Down syndrome and the biology of chromosome 21.

Gardiner received a grant from the Jérôme Lejeune Foundation to organize the workshop and the past two workshops she organized in 2004 and 2007. More than 130 experts from a variety of scientific disciplines are expected to attend the workshop.

“Our invited speakers are not Down syndrome researchers but may be interested in a specific gene on chromosome 21 or in some other type or specific feature of intellectual disability,” Gardiner said. “They may be persuaded to think about doing Down syndrome research and/or provide new ideas, research tools or perspectives to current Down syndrome researchers.”