The Brainstem

Dr. Lea Tenenholz Grinberg is a neuropathologist specializing in brain aging and associated disorders, most notably, Alzheimer’s and neurological basis of sleep disturbances in neurodegenerative diseases. Currently, she is a Full Professor and a John Douglas French Alzheimer’s Foundation Endowed Professor at the UCSF Memory and Aging Center, part of the Executive Board of the Global Brain Health Institute and member of the Medical Scientific Advisory Group for the Alzheimer Association. She is also a Professor of Pathology at the University of Sao Paulo. In 2003, Dr. Grinberg was among the founders of a brain bank in São Paulo, focusing on brain aging. This brain bank which she had since developed into an extremely prolific and highly-regarded institution, helped Dr. Grinberg prove that, contrary to what has been accepted previously, the brainstem and not the cortex, harbors the first detectable neurodegeneration in Alzheimer’s disease. In 2009, she was the recipient of the UNESCO-L'Oréal Award "For Women in Science," and in 2010 she received the John Douglas French Alzheimer Foundation "Distinguished Research Scholar Award." Currently, Dr. Grinberg is the Co-Leader of the UCSF/Neurodegenerative Disease Brain Bank, where she conducts neuropathological diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases. She also directs the Human Biology Validation Core for the NIH/U54 Tau Centers Without Walls, is a principal investigator from the TauProfessor Korczyn graduated from the Hebrew University–Hadassah Medical School in Jerusalem in 1966 (MD), where he also received an MSc degree in pharmacology (cum laude) in 1966. He trained in neurology at Beilinson Hospital and at the National Hospital for Nervous Diseases, Queen Square, London. He was the Chairman of the Department of Neurology at the Tel-Aviv Medical Center from 1981 until 2002, and the incumbent of the Sieratzki Chair of Neurology at Tel-Aviv University, 1995-2010. Professor Korczyn has a particular interest in neurodegenerative diseases. He has authored or co-authored over 700 articles in peer-reviewed journals, edited several books and is Regional Editor of the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease. He is or has been an Editorial Board member of 20 international journals, and organized several neurological conferences, mainly in the field of dementia, Parkinson’s disease and other degenerative brain disorders, as well as CONy – the International Congress on Controversies in Neurology, and has organized the Mental Dysfunction in Parkinson’s disease congresses since 1993. Professor Korczyn served on advisory boards in several drug discovery programs. Professor Korczyn is the Chairman of the Scientific Medical Board of the Israeli Alzheimer’s disease association (EMDA), member of the SAB of Alzheimer Disease International (ADI), and has been the chairman of the WFN Research Committee for Clinical Neuropharmacology. Professor Korczyn is an honorary member of the neurological societies of Israel, Serbia, Poland, Russia, and Romania.

• Section 1. Physiology and semiology1. History of the brainstem – a developing concept throughout the history of medicine2. Structural and Functional anatomy of the Brainstem3. Autonomic Blood pressure control4. Emotion5. Brainstem in pain control6. Wakefulness, consciousness and sleepSection 2. Pathology 7. Locked-in syndrome8. The vestibular system, equilibrium, and vertigo9. Oculomotor disorders, nystagmus (all causes)10. Pupillary disorders11. Neurodevelopmental brainstem syndromes12. Intrinsic Pontine Tumors: Pathology of brainstem tumors and Exploration of DIPG13. Autoimmune maladies of the brainstem14. Dysarthria15. Brainstem in neurodegenerative diseases16. Brainstem vascular syndromes17. Traumatic brain injury in the brainstemSection 3. Monitoring and Intervention18. Computed Tomography and Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Brainstem19. Ultrasound studies of brainstem20. Anatomical imaging: angiography21. Brainstem evoked responses22. Functional and molecular brainstem imaging23. Brain death and the brain stem