Anuja Ghorpade, Ph.D., chief of Laboratory for Cellular Neuroimmunology at UNMC’s Center for Neurovirology and Neurodegenerative Disorders and the scientific director of the Rapid Autopsy Program, is the 2002 recipient of the Vada Kinman Oldfield Alzheimer’s Research Fund Award. The Oldfield Award will be presented Monday, April 22, at 11:30 a.m. in the Healing Gardens of the Lied Transplant Center.
The award carries a $10,000 stipend. Col. Barney Oldfield established the research fund at UNMC in 1999 in his wife’s honor. She died in 1999 after an 11-year battle with Alzheimer’s disease. The award is given annually to an individual with a promising new idea in Alzheimer’s research. In addition to the $10,000 annual award, the principal of the endowment is increased by $10,000 each year. Col. Oldfield has said that once a cure is found, the money will be redirected to battle other disorders of old age.
“Receiving the Vada Oldfield Award is a special honor for me, but I have a lot of people to thank for the success of this program,” Dr. Ghorpade said. “Given the difficult nature of the program, success would not have been possible without the support of a lot of individuals.
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“I want to start with Dr. Howard Gendelman, all members of the Center for Neurovirology and Neurodegenerative Disorders, Chancellor Harold M. Maurer and his executive committees, Drs. Susan Swindells and Jane Potter and Dr. Sam Cohen, chairman of the department of pathology.
“In addition, this program owes a debt to Drs. Rodney McComb, Leslie Bruch and Todd Kendall, the acute bereavement services at NHS Clarkson and University Hospitals, all the members of my research technician team — group leaders Raisa Persidsky, Kathleen Borgmann, Spring Holter, Li Wu and Robin Cotter and (former) rapid autopsy program coordinator William Brown.
“Last and most importantly, I want to thank the donors and their families who gave us the most generous gift of brain tissue from their loved ones for this research. I can only say ‘Thank you’ to all and hope that this research will prove significant in the long-term fight against Alzheimer’s disease.”
Dr. Ghorpade earned her Ph.D. in life sciences in India at the National Institute of Immunology. She then completed three years of post-doctoral training at UNMC. Prior to becoming an assistant professor in July 1999, she was an instructor in the department of pathology and microbiology.
In addition, Dr. Ghorpade received a research scholar award from the Pediatric AIDS Foundation and currently is independently funded through the National Institutes of Health. She also serves as an ad-hoc reviewer for several peer-reviewed scientific journals. She is a member of the International Society for Neuroimmunology, American Association for the Advancement of Science, International Society for Neurovirology, Society for Neuroscience and American Society for Microbiology.
Dr. Ghorpade is an avid teacher and mother of two boys, ages 4 and 3. She participates in undergraduate, graduate and medical students’ education at UNMC, the University of Nebraska at Omaha and Metropolitan Community College.