Pierre and Marie Curie University (Sorbonne Universities)
Harald Hampel
Professor, Pierre and Marie Curie University (Sorbonne Universities)
Dr. Hampel obtained his MD and PhD at the University of Munich,Germany. He also holds an MSc in hospital management from Cologne University, Germany and an MA from Trinity College, University of Dublin, Ireland. After training at the University of Munich, he moved to Washington D.C. in 1995 for a post-doctoral fellowship at the NIH/NIA Laboratory of Neurosciences in Bethesda, Md. (supervisor: Stanley I. Rapoport, MD, PhD) focused on structural & functional neuroimaging of the healthy aging and Alzheimer's disease brain. In 1997 he became founding director of the Alzheimer Memorial Center at the University of Munich where he was appointed as full Professor in 2005. In 2006 he moved to Dublin and was appointed as full tenured Professor and Chair of Psychiatry at Trinity College, University of Dublin, Ireland. During this time he was a PI at the Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience (TCIN). In 2010 he was appointed as full tenured Professor, Chair and Head of Department of Psychiatry, head of the Alzheimer Research Center and co-director of the Brain Imaging Center (BIC) at the University of Frankfurt, Germany. In 2013 he was appointed as full tenured Professor at Pierre and Marie Curie University, Department of Neurology, Memory and Alzheimer's Disease Institute, Paris, France.Major research interests and contributions: Discovery and development of multimodal biochemical (blood & CSF) and neuroimaging biomarkers of neurodegenerative diseases (with focus on Alzheimer's disease [AD]). Neurochemical biomarker work focused on inflammatory markers (TNF receptor complex, IL-6 receptor complex), phosphorylated tau (focusing on s199, thr181, thr231), abeta-antibodies and abeta-oligomers (correlation with cognitive decline), TACE and BACE1 functional proteins (in brain, CSF and plasma), microvascular proteins. Validation of multimodal biomarker candidates in mono- and multi-site studies for progression, prediction, detection, diagnosis and classification of AD at different disease stages. Validation of biomarkers against post-mortem histochemical findings (e.g. p-tau thr231 correlation with regional brain tangle density).
Dr. Hampel's group has introduced and systematically validated (from mono-center methodological studies to multi-site validation) various novel MR-biomarkers, e.g. of basal forebrain changes validated against post-mortem obtained brain scans, FDG- and Amyloid-PET scans. Multivariate analysis tools were developed to track white matter changes, cortical thickness analysis, voxel-based DTI analysis of the whole brain (including first multi-center validation studies), demonstrating AD specific pattern of fractional anisotropy and identifying anatomical neural networks using tractography within the brain. Voxel- and deformation-based morphometry and cortical thickness measurement. For the functional MRI assessment, he developed a connectivity related approach that showed brain changes in subjects at risk of AD even before the onset of dementia. His current neuroimaging research focuses on understanding how the brain constructs networks of interacting regions to perform cognitive tasks, especially those associated with memory and attention, and how these networks are altered in brain disorders.For his work in MR-based neuroimaging he received the Bernhard-von-Gudden Award, the Alois Alzheimer Award and the Award of the Society for Human Brain Mapping. For his work on the development of core biological markers of AD he received the Award of the German Brain Foundation. For his achievements in translational AD related research he received the Kraepelin-Alzheimer Medal and the Katharina Hardt Research Awards.He is senior associate editor heading the newly established biomarker branch of the journal Alzheimer's and Dementia of the Alzheimer's Association (Chicago, Il., USA).
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