Scott A. Small MD is the Director of the Alzheimer's Disease Research Center at Columbia
University. Dr. Small's lab focuses on disorders that effect the hippocampus, a brain circuit
targeted by Alzheimer's disease, the normal wear & tear of the aging process ('cognitive
aging'), and schizophrenia. The lab first optimized MRI tools applicable to patients and
animal models that were then used to pinpoint the parts of the hippocampal circuit
differentially vulnerable and resistant to each disorder (Nature Reviews Neuroscience,
2011). This anatomical information was then used as a guide to uncover pathogenic drivers
(Neuron, 2014): Retromer-dependent endosomal recycling in Alzheimer's disease, dietary
flavanols in cognitive aging, and the glutamate metabolic cycle in schizophrenia. Most
recently, his lab has been developing interventions and biomarkers for each disorder, and
the lab's discoveries were the cornerstone for the formation of a new biotechnology
company, Retromer Therapeutics