NEWS
Oct 13, 2025 | Gladstone Institutes | Katerina Akassoglou Receives Zenith Fellows Award to Advance Alzheimer’s Research
The Alzheimer’s Association has selected Gladstone’s Katerina Akassoglou, PhD, as a 2025 recipient of the Zenith Fellows Award, an international prize given annually to scientists making substantial contributions to the field of Alzheimer’s research.
A senior investigator at Gladstone Institutes and director of the Gladstone-UCSF Center for Neurovascular Brain Immunology, Akassoglou has pioneered research into interactions between the brain, blood vessels, and immune system—and has shown how those interactions drive the development and progression of Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases.
“Katerina Akassoglou’s research exemplifies the type of bold, innovative science that brings us closer to effective treatments and, ultimately, a world without Alzheimer’s and other dementias,” says Heather Snyder, PhD, the Alzheimer’s Association’s senior vice president of medical and scientific relations.
The Zenith Fellows Awards are among the most prestigious worldwide for Alzheimer’s and dementia science. With funding from Zenith Society members, the program has provided more than $48 million in awards to 152 leading Alzheimer’s researchers in nine countries since 1991.
Read more here
May 14, 2025 | Gladstone Institutes | Zhaoqi Yan Named a 2025 Warren Alpert Distinguished Scholar Learn more
Zhaoqi Yan, PhD, a scientist at Gladstone Institutes, has been named a 2025 Warren Alpert Distinguished Scholar. The fellowship award is given annually to five postdoctoral researchers in the United States who demonstrate exceptional creativity in the field of neuroscience.
With the support from the Warren Alpert Foundation, he will use cutting-edge techniques to examine how blood proteins leaking into the brain can trigger the progression of neurological diseases, including Alzheimer’s. His innovative research has the potential to lead to new therapies for a wide range of neurological conditions.
Read more here.
May 14, 2025 | BrightFocus Foundation | Katerina Akassoglou Awarded BrightFocus Foundation’s Alzheimer’s Disease Research Grant Learn more
CLARKSBURG, Md. (May 13, 2025)—Private research nonprofit BrightFocus Foundation today announced nearly $13 million in grants to support early investigative research into Alzheimer’s disease, macular degeneration, and glaucoma. This includes $7.3 million to its Alzheimer’s Disease Research program, $3.8 million to its Macular Degeneration Research program, and $1.8 million to its National Glaucoma Research program.
Guided by scientific advisory committees of world-renowned researchers in the field, BrightFocus invests in highly innovative, experimental research and creative ideas with the most promise to foster a better understanding of disease onset, improve early detection and diagnosis, develop new treatments, and—ultimately—lead to cures. This year’s grants were awarded to scientists in 10 countries.
“This year’s grant awards represent some of the boldest, most cutting-edge ideas in vision and brain health research,” said BrightFocus President and CEO Stacy Pagos Haller. “With recent major cuts to federal research funding, private foundations like BrightFocus are more essential than ever—stepping up to keep promising research alive, nurture early-career scientists, and accelerate breakthroughs.”
Read more here.
Nov 04, 2024 | Bloomberg | Unraveling Covid’s Pernicious Role in Brain Fog and Clotting Learn more
Oct 30, 2024 | Multiple Sclerosis News Today | Brain blood vessels key to new MS treatments, researchers argue Learn more
Oct 21, 2024 | Eric Topol, Ground Truths | Katerina Akassoglou: Blood Clots, Brain Inflammation, and Covid Learn more
Oct 17, 2024 | Medical Press | A new era of treating neurological diseases at the blood-brain-immune interface Learn more
Sep 28, 2024 | ABC7 News Bay Area | New study from SF Gladstone Institutes sheds light on cause of brain fog due to COVID-19 Learn more
A new scientific study from Gladstone Institutes in San Francisco has shed new light on what causes brain fog and the many other brain-related symptoms of long COVID and COVID-19. By far, the most common reported symptom is brain fog, which interferes with your ability to think clearly, remember things, and focus on a task. Senior Investigator, Gladstone Institutes, Dr. Katerina Akassoglou, explains more about the study findings.
Aug 29, 2024 | Preventing Brain Damage in Preterm Babies
"As a neonatologist and neuroscientist, it's frustrating that we don't have any treatments to counteract the harmful effects of bleeding in the developing brain, even though we know it often leads to lasting problems," says Petersen, director of the Neuro-Intensive Care Nursery at UC San Francisco (UCSF), associate professor of pediatrics at UCSF, and a visiting scientist at Gladstone Institutes. "Adding to this frustration, we've had very little understanding -- until now -- of why and how this bleeding is so closely tied to the long-term neurological issues these babies often face."
In a study that appears in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), Petersen and an interdisciplinary team of physicians and scientists from Gladstone and UCSF shed light on this vexing medical condition, showing for the first time that a blood protein called fibrin blocks an essential biological process that drives brain development in early life.
Read more here.
Aug 29, 2024 | Discovery of How Blood Clots Harm Brain and Body in COVID-19 Points to New Therapy
In a study that reshapes what we know about COVID-19 and its most perplexing symptoms, scientists have discovered that the blood coagulation protein fibrin causes the unusual clotting and inflammation that have become hallmarks of the disease, while also suppressing the body’s ability to clear the virus. Importantly, the team also identified a new antibody therapy to combat all of these deleterious effects.
Published in Nature, the study by Gladstone Institutes and collaborators overturns the prevailing theory that blood clotting is merely a consequence of inflammation in COVID-19. Through experiments in the lab and with mice, the researchers show that blood clotting is instead a primary effect, driving other problems—including toxic inflammation, impaired viral clearance, and neurological symptoms prevalent in those with COVID-19 and long COVID.
“Knowing that fibrin is the instigator of inflammation and neurological symptoms, we can build a new path forward for treating the disease at the root,” says Katerina Akassoglou, PhD, a senior investigator at Gladstone and the director of the Center for Neurovascular Brain Immunology at Gladstone and UC San Francisco. “In our experiments in mice, neutralizing blood toxicity with fibrin antibody therapy can protect the brain and body after COVID infection.”
Read more here.
Jun 29, 2024 | Katerina Akassoglou Receives 2024 Pharmacia-ASPET Award
ASPET is pleased to award Dr. Katerina Akassoglou, PhD from the University of California, San Francisco, the 2024 Pharmacia-ASPET Award for Experimental Therapeutics. This award recognizes outstanding research in pharmacology and experimental therapeutics, basic laboratory or clinical research that has had, or potentially will have, a major impact on the pharmacological treatment of disease.
Dr. Akassoglou is receiving this award in recognition of her work on neurovascular and neuroimmune mechanisms that will have a major impact on the treatment of neurological diseases.
Dr. Katerina Akassoglou has pioneered studies on neurovascular regulation of inflammation and tissue repair and the molecular interface blood proteins utilize to interact with nervous system cells. She developed a first-in-class fibrin-targeting immunotherapy, currently in Phase 1, for the treatment of neurological diseases. She has published over 100 papers and is an inventor on 11 issued and several pending patents. She was awarded by the White House the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, the John J. Abel Award in Pharmacology, the Dana Foundation and Marilyn Hilton Awards, the Barancik and ISFP Prizes and she was named by the San Francisco Business Times among the 2021 Most Influential Women in Bay Area Business. She is a Fellow of the American Neurological Association, an elected Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and ASPET. She has been a member of ASPET since 2005.
May 26, 2024 | A New Therapeutic Target for Traumatic Brain Injury
The glaring absence of treatments for such a widespread condition drove a team of scientists at Gladstone Institutes to uncover, on a molecular level, how traumatic brain injuries trigger neurodegeneration—and just as importantly, how to target that process to prevent long-term damage.
“We set out to address the fundamental question of exactly what happens in the brain after injury to ignite the damaging process that destroys neurons,” says Jae Kyu Ryu, PhD, a scientific program leader in the lab of Katerina Akassoglou, PhD, at Gladstone Institutes.
Most traumatic brain injuries come as a result of falls, car crashes, or violent assaults, according to the Centers for Disease Control, but many also stem from sports accidents or certain military operations such as explosions. In each case, the external force is strong enough to move the brain within the skull, causing a significant breakdown in the blood-brain barrier and allowing blood to move in.
“We knew that a specific blood protein, fibrin, was present in the brain after traumatic brain injury, but we didn’t know until now that it plays a causative role in brain damage after injury,” says Ryu, who led the study that appears in the Journal of Neuroinflammation.
Read more here.
Jan 22, 2024 | Fibrinogen – iDisco Human
Aug 26, 2023 | How Blood That Leaks into the Brain Makes Immune Cells Toxic
“Our study answers, for the first time in a comprehensive way, how blood that leaks into the brain hijacks the brain’s immune system to cause toxic effects in brain diseases,” said Akassoglou, who is also director of the Center for Neurovascular Brain Immunology at Gladstone and a professor of neurology at UC San Francisco (UCSF). “Knowing how blood affects the brain could help us develop innovative treatments for neurological diseases.”
Read the full article here.
Aug 25, 2023 | Revealing How Blood Triggers Brain Disease Learn more
In patients with neurological diseases like Alzheimer’s disease and multiple sclerosis, immune cells in the brain known as microglia that normally fulfill beneficial functions become harmful to neurons, leading to cognitive dysfunction and motor impairment. These harmful immune cells may also contribute to age-related cognitive decline in people without dementia.
The Alzheimer’s Association has selected Gladstone’s Katerina Akassoglou, PhD, as a 2025 recipient of the Zenith Fellows Award, an international prize given annually to scientists making substantial contributions to the field of Alzheimer’s research.
A senior investigator at Gladstone Institutes and director of the Gladstone-UCSF Center for Neurovascular Brain Immunology, Akassoglou has pioneered research into interactions between the brain, blood vessels, and immune system—and has shown how those interactions drive the development and progression of Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases.
“Katerina Akassoglou’s research exemplifies the type of bold, innovative science that brings us closer to effective treatments and, ultimately, a world without Alzheimer’s and other dementias,” says Heather Snyder, PhD, the Alzheimer’s Association’s senior vice president of medical and scientific relations.
The Zenith Fellows Awards are among the most prestigious worldwide for Alzheimer’s and dementia science. With funding from Zenith Society members, the program has provided more than $48 million in awards to 152 leading Alzheimer’s researchers in nine countries since 1991.
Read more hereMay 14, 2025 | Gladstone Institutes | Zhaoqi Yan Named a 2025 Warren Alpert Distinguished Scholar Learn more
Zhaoqi Yan, PhD, a scientist at Gladstone Institutes, has been named a 2025 Warren Alpert Distinguished Scholar. The fellowship award is given annually to five postdoctoral researchers in the United States who demonstrate exceptional creativity in the field of neuroscience.
With the support from the Warren Alpert Foundation, he will use cutting-edge techniques to examine how blood proteins leaking into the brain can trigger the progression of neurological diseases, including Alzheimer’s. His innovative research has the potential to lead to new therapies for a wide range of neurological conditions.
Read more here.May 14, 2025 | BrightFocus Foundation | Katerina Akassoglou Awarded BrightFocus Foundation’s Alzheimer’s Disease Research Grant Learn more
CLARKSBURG, Md. (May 13, 2025)—Private research nonprofit BrightFocus Foundation today announced nearly $13 million in grants to support early investigative research into Alzheimer’s disease, macular degeneration, and glaucoma. This includes $7.3 million to its Alzheimer’s Disease Research program, $3.8 million to its Macular Degeneration Research program, and $1.8 million to its National Glaucoma Research program.
Guided by scientific advisory committees of world-renowned researchers in the field, BrightFocus invests in highly innovative, experimental research and creative ideas with the most promise to foster a better understanding of disease onset, improve early detection and diagnosis, develop new treatments, and—ultimately—lead to cures. This year’s grants were awarded to scientists in 10 countries.
“This year’s grant awards represent some of the boldest, most cutting-edge ideas in vision and brain health research,” said BrightFocus President and CEO Stacy Pagos Haller. “With recent major cuts to federal research funding, private foundations like BrightFocus are more essential than ever—stepping up to keep promising research alive, nurture early-career scientists, and accelerate breakthroughs.”
Read more here.Nov 04, 2024 | Bloomberg | Unraveling Covid’s Pernicious Role in Brain Fog and Clotting Learn more
Oct 30, 2024 | Multiple Sclerosis News Today | Brain blood vessels key to new MS treatments, researchers argue Learn more
Oct 21, 2024 | Eric Topol, Ground Truths | Katerina Akassoglou: Blood Clots, Brain Inflammation, and Covid Learn more
Oct 17, 2024 | Medical Press | A new era of treating neurological diseases at the blood-brain-immune interface Learn more
Sep 28, 2024 | ABC7 News Bay Area | New study from SF Gladstone Institutes sheds light on cause of brain fog due to COVID-19 Learn more
A new scientific study from Gladstone Institutes in San Francisco has shed new light on what causes brain fog and the many other brain-related symptoms of long COVID and COVID-19. By far, the most common reported symptom is brain fog, which interferes with your ability to think clearly, remember things, and focus on a task. Senior Investigator, Gladstone Institutes, Dr. Katerina Akassoglou, explains more about the study findings.
Aug 29, 2024 | Preventing Brain Damage in Preterm Babies
"As a neonatologist and neuroscientist, it's frustrating that we don't have any treatments to counteract the harmful effects of bleeding in the developing brain, even though we know it often leads to lasting problems," says Petersen, director of the Neuro-Intensive Care Nursery at UC San Francisco (UCSF), associate professor of pediatrics at UCSF, and a visiting scientist at Gladstone Institutes. "Adding to this frustration, we've had very little understanding -- until now -- of why and how this bleeding is so closely tied to the long-term neurological issues these babies often face."
In a study that appears in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), Petersen and an interdisciplinary team of physicians and scientists from Gladstone and UCSF shed light on this vexing medical condition, showing for the first time that a blood protein called fibrin blocks an essential biological process that drives brain development in early life.
Read more here.Aug 29, 2024 | Discovery of How Blood Clots Harm Brain and Body in COVID-19 Points to New Therapy
In a study that reshapes what we know about COVID-19 and its most perplexing symptoms, scientists have discovered that the blood coagulation protein fibrin causes the unusual clotting and inflammation that have become hallmarks of the disease, while also suppressing the body’s ability to clear the virus. Importantly, the team also identified a new antibody therapy to combat all of these deleterious effects.
Published in Nature, the study by Gladstone Institutes and collaborators overturns the prevailing theory that blood clotting is merely a consequence of inflammation in COVID-19. Through experiments in the lab and with mice, the researchers show that blood clotting is instead a primary effect, driving other problems—including toxic inflammation, impaired viral clearance, and neurological symptoms prevalent in those with COVID-19 and long COVID.
“Knowing that fibrin is the instigator of inflammation and neurological symptoms, we can build a new path forward for treating the disease at the root,” says Katerina Akassoglou, PhD, a senior investigator at Gladstone and the director of the Center for Neurovascular Brain Immunology at Gladstone and UC San Francisco. “In our experiments in mice, neutralizing blood toxicity with fibrin antibody therapy can protect the brain and body after COVID infection.”
Read more here.Jun 29, 2024 | Katerina Akassoglou Receives 2024 Pharmacia-ASPET Award
ASPET is pleased to award Dr. Katerina Akassoglou, PhD from the University of California, San Francisco, the 2024 Pharmacia-ASPET Award for Experimental Therapeutics. This award recognizes outstanding research in pharmacology and experimental therapeutics, basic laboratory or clinical research that has had, or potentially will have, a major impact on the pharmacological treatment of disease.
Dr. Akassoglou is receiving this award in recognition of her work on neurovascular and neuroimmune mechanisms that will have a major impact on the treatment of neurological diseases.
Dr. Katerina Akassoglou has pioneered studies on neurovascular regulation of inflammation and tissue repair and the molecular interface blood proteins utilize to interact with nervous system cells. She developed a first-in-class fibrin-targeting immunotherapy, currently in Phase 1, for the treatment of neurological diseases. She has published over 100 papers and is an inventor on 11 issued and several pending patents. She was awarded by the White House the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, the John J. Abel Award in Pharmacology, the Dana Foundation and Marilyn Hilton Awards, the Barancik and ISFP Prizes and she was named by the San Francisco Business Times among the 2021 Most Influential Women in Bay Area Business. She is a Fellow of the American Neurological Association, an elected Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and ASPET. She has been a member of ASPET since 2005.May 26, 2024 | A New Therapeutic Target for Traumatic Brain Injury
Jae Kyu Ryu, left, and Zhaoqi Yan, right, collaborate in the Gladstone lab of Katerina Akassoglou.
Jan 22, 2024 | Fibrinogen – iDisco Human
Aug 26, 2023 | How Blood That Leaks into the Brain Makes Immune Cells Toxic
“Our study answers, for the first time in a comprehensive way, how blood that leaks into the brain hijacks the brain’s immune system to cause toxic effects in brain diseases,” said Akassoglou, who is also director of the Center for Neurovascular Brain Immunology at Gladstone and a professor of neurology at UC San Francisco (UCSF). “Knowing how blood affects the brain could help us develop innovative treatments for neurological diseases.”
Read the full article here.Aug 25, 2023 | Revealing How Blood Triggers Brain Disease Learn more
Katerina Akassoglou (left) and Andrew Mendiola (right) show how blood makes the brain’s immune cells toxic, pointing to new treatments for Alzheimer’s disease and multiple sclerosis.
