Project Title: Cardiovascular Abnormalities Associated with the Emergence of Alzheimer's Disease
BASIS Advisor: Dr. Nancy Fisher
Internship Location: The George Washington University Hospital
Onsite Mentor: Dr. Farzad Najam
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive brain disorder that slowly affects memory and thinking abilities in the affected individual, and it currently affects over five million people in the United States. As a disease of great severity, it accounts for over 70% of all cases of dementia and is predicted to affect 13 million US citizens by 2050. Working at Stoddard Baptist Global Care Nursing home for multiple years, I better understand the effects of the disease and wanted to learn more. Due to the impact of COVID-19, I was unable to work directly with Dr. Farzad Najam, the head of cardiac surgery at George Washington University Hospital, however, I was able to explore this relationship between the cardiovascular system and the onset of AD further through my own independent research. As a result, I better understand the role of the cardiovascular system in neurodegeneration, and am learning about the effects of certain cardiovascular abnormalities, such as cerebral hypoperfusion and VaD, on the emergence of Alzheimer’s disease. I also seek to explore the possibility of cardiovascular abnormalities arising from the onset of AD.
My Posts
Week 8: Tying Up the Loose Ends
May 21, 2020
Welcome back everyone! This week is a special week as I try to synthesize everything that I’ve been learning over the past eight weeks to come to somewhat of a conclusion before giving my final thoughts in next week’s post. I feel like where I started with this project completely differs from where I am […]
Week 7: Statin Studies
May 01, 2020
Welcome back, everyone! It’s been quite a productive week for me as I took a closer look at the use of statins in preventing the aggregation of Aß. At the very end of my last post, I included a chart that included previous studies from 2000 to 2017 that looked at the use of statins […]
Week 6: The Cholesterol Question
Apr 24, 2020
Welcome back, everyone! It’s been another successful week researching as I began to re-investigate my research question using the information I had learned from the past two weeks. I realized that cardiovascular abnormalities (if they were to ever precede cognitive decline) would occur many years before the onset of AD itself. But this is not […]
Week 5: Taking a Few More Steps Back
Apr 18, 2020
Hey everyone! In my last post, I did a bit of exploration into amyloid-directed treatments as well as looked at the bigger picture of the pathology of Alzheimer’s disease. I’d like to reiterate that the hope is to get a better understanding of the role the cardiovascular system plays in what is largely assumed to […]
Week 4: Taking a Step Back
Apr 08, 2020
Hey everyone! It has been a few weeks since my last post and in that time I have “taken a step back” from my original research question. Now, don’t get me wrong, I am still investigating the original question. However, I’ve realized that while researching the connection between cardiovascular abnormalities and the emergence of Alzheimer’s […]
Week 3: A Long Way to Go
Mar 24, 2020
Hey everyone! It seems every week my research seems to get tougher and tougher. Last week, I had found contradictory evidence about the role of hypoperfusion in AD. I decided that this week, I would look even deeper, into the science behind the connection between cerebral hypoperfusion and AD. My first question was simple: How […]
Week 2: My World and the Real World
Mar 16, 2020
It’s strange to study Alzheimer’s disease when we’re facing a crisis in the field of public health. And yet, I’ve been slowly progressing with my Senior Project’s independent research as well as engaging in plenty of new activities at home. Last we left off, I was just beginning to explore the relationship between blood flow […]
Week 1: The Blood and the Brain – Partners in Crime?
Mar 10, 2020
My Senior Project came to a resounding halt just as I began to further explore Alzheimer’s disease. While I’d hoped to have engaged with my advisor at GWU Hospital, I was soon informed that the hospital was facing severe changes in order to cope with the current pandemic, and my project would have to be […]
Why I’m Curious about Alzheimer’s Disease
Mar 02, 2020
Hey Everyone! I’m Charan Ravikumar, a senior at BASIS Independent McLean. For my Senior Project, I plan to work with Dr. Farzad Najam at GWU Hospital to assist in studying the relationship between cardiovascular abnormalities and the emergence of Alzheimer’s disease. I’m really excited to be sharing my exploration of the disease with all of […]