‘The little snowball that rolled off the top of the mountain and kept on growing’ is how Garth Cooper describes his group’s research into links between Alzheimer’s Disease and protein levels in the brain. 

Funded by Whau Foundation, the research looked at the new methods of proteomics, which analyses the protein content of the brain, and compared results from those with Alzheimer’s disease, schizophrenia, and control subjects. 

Working with Richard Faull at the Brain Bank in Auckland, Garth and his team developed the methodologies for applying proteomic to both diseases. 

The research had a major international impact as the first significant application of proteomics to the origins of chronic mental disease in patients. 

Their work was taken up by the National Institutes of Health (The National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke) – one of the world’s leading medical research facilities – in the United States. The study, which was published in 2001, was one of the pivotal studies used by the Institute as evidence to set up their global neuroproteomics platform. 

As part of this Garth was invited to go the NIH and gave a lecture on the approach, which is now being used all over the world. 

“The study also provided substantive evidence for understanding the pathological mechanism of Alzheimer’s disease. 

It has been cited more than 190 times and has had an important impact on the whole development of the literature in the field. It was really successful.” 

With further support from the Whau Foundation, Garth and his team are again working with Richard Faull looking at the blood vessels in the brain and links between Type 2 Diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease. 

“We are starting to follow up now on strong potential links to the mechanisms of Alzheimer disease and Type Two Diabetes.” 

“It is now increasingly recognised that the two diseases have a lot in common. The work is leading to conclusions that I believe will probably drive clinical interventions quite soon.” 

Garth says the major international impacts can be traced back to the initial funding support from the Whau Foundation. 

“We wouldn’t have been able to do the work without them – it was completely enabling. The Whau Foundation has funded important studies that would not otherwise get done and it does that by focussing on its areas of interest. These are very important areas that would otherwise be neglected. If the Whau Foundation wasn’t there this research wouldn’t have happened.”