About the Center
The Center for Alzheimer’s and Neurodegenerative Diseases (CAND) integrates cross-disciplinary clinical, research, and educational programs to advance precision diagnosis and personalized therapies for Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and other neurodegenerative conditions.
The challenge of neurodegeneration requires innovative strategies informed by multiple scientific and medical disciplines. Our mission is to dissect the unique interactions between genes, lifestyle and other factors that trigger Alzheimer’s and other forms of neurodegeneration in each person. These insights promise groundbreaking improvements for risk prediction and more personalized, targeted therapies.
Our faculty, trainees, and staff draw from many outstanding Baylor College of Medicine departments and centers, and we are also collaborating with colleagues in Houston and around the world. CAND-supported research and educational resources will propel breakthrough discoveries and accelerate translation for clinical care. We are also engaging with community partners to increase awareness and tackle neurodegeneration together.
We congratulate the 2025 recipients of the CAND Pilot Awards: Cristian Lasagna-Reeves & Mauro Montalbano (UTMB); Roy Lin & Luis Medina (UH).
These CAND awards are modeled on the NIH Alzheimer's Disease Research Center (ADRC) Developmental Project program and support new and emerging research into Alzheimer’s disease and related neurodegenerative disorders. Our program supports early-career investigators, fosters cross-institutional collaborations across the Texas Medical Center, and drives innovative, high-impact studies designed to generate preliminary data and compete successfully for extramural funding
Director's Message
View a message from Joshua M. Shulman, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Center for Alzheimer’s and Neurodegenerative Disease.
Seminars and Meetings
Cross-Disciplinary Alzheimer’s Consensus Research Conference: Clinicians and researchers unite to learn about the latest advances.
Computational Collaborative: Innovative working group to promote translation from basic discoveries to human applications.
Research
Access CAND data, biospecimens, expertise, and pilot funding to accelerate breakthroughs in neurodegeneration.
Education
Opportunities for tomorrow’s neurodegeneration-focused physicians and scientists, including the CAND Scholars program.
Faculty
CAND physicians and scientists are reimagining the pipeline from basic discovery through neurological care with a view toward more individualized therapies.
Healthcare
Unparalleled, multidisciplinary clinical care for patients and families affected by neurodegenerative diseases.
Support and Giving for Alzheimer’s and Neurodegenerative Diseases
In 2021, Baylor College of Medicine received more than $52M in National Institutes of Health funding for studies of Alzheimer’s disease and AD-related dementias, continuing a legacy of major contributions over the last several decades. NIH funding also supports the closely allied fields of translational neuroscience and personalized genomic medicine projects.
The Center for Alzheimer’s and Neurodegenerative Diseases is also grateful for funding from private and non-profit foundations as well as generous support from many individuals in our community.