Mason and Mary Rudd Chair of Neurology

Professor of Neurology

Bldg A Room 120
University of Louisville School of Medicine
Louisville, KY 40292

Clinical Phone: (502) 589-0802
Academic Phone: (502) 852-6407

Education

City College of New York, New York
Degree: B.S., Biology

Mount Sinai School of Medicine
City University of New York
New York, New York
M.D.

Training

Straight Medicine Internship
Beth Israel Hospital
New York, New York

Neurology Residency and Chief Residency
Mount Sinai School of Medicine
New York, New York

Research Fellow, National Institutes of Health
(Senile Dementia: Biological and Behavioral Aspects)
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
New York, New York

Board Certifications

Certified, American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology

Biography

Dr Friedland is a clinical and research neurologist devoted to the study of brain disorders associated with aging. He is a graduate of the City College of New York and was a student at the University of Kentucky School of Medicine before graduating from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York in 1973. He completed his neurology residency at the Mount Sinai Hospital and was a Fellow in dementia and aging at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, NY. He then worked at the University of California, Davis, and in the Research Medicine Group of the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory of the University California, Berkeley where he served as Chief Neurologist. From 1985 to 1990 he was Deputy Clinical Director and Chief of the Section on Brain Aging and Dementia of the National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health of Bethesda, MD. At the CWRU School of Medicine he was Professor of Neurology, Radiology and Psychiatry and Chief of the Laboratory of Neurogeriatrics from 1990 to 2008. In December of 2008 he joined the faculty of the University of Louisville, School of Medicine, as the Mason and Mary Rudd Chair and Professor of Neurology. Dr. Friedland’s work has focused on clinical and biological issues in Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders. Dr. Friedland has authored or coauthored over 200 scientific publications and has current research funding from the National Institutes of Health (National Institute on Aging), as well as several Foundations, Institutes, Corporations and Families. He has had over $1,000,000 of research funding to support his work for every year since 1985.

Clinical Interests

Dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, brain aging, prevention, neurogeriatrics, behavioral neurology

Research Interests

Dr. Friedland’s work has focused on clinical and biological issues in Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders. He was the first to document patterns of abnormal brain metabolism and cerebral blood flow in the disease using positron emission and single photon emission computed tomography. He also contributed the initial studies of magnetic resonance imaging in dementia. The first studies of driving behavior in patients with Alzheimer’s disease came from his group at the NIH. Dr. Friedland has also worked on the patterns of disease occurrence and risk and protective factors, with studies of the Kikuyu in Kenya, Jews and Arabs in Israel, Caucasian and African-American subjects in Ohio and Mexican and European American subjects in Texas. He has documented a series of important determinants of the disease, including physical and mental inactivity, smoking, obesity, and diet. This work has focused on interactions of genetic and environmental lifestyle elements. These studies have led to a National Health Literacy Program working to enhance public awareness about the disease and how lifestyle modifications may influence risk. His group also participated in the discovery of the important Alzheimer’s disease risk factor gene, SORL1. Animal models have been used by Dr Frieldand and his collaborators to better define the biological mechanisms of Alzheimer’s disease in order to develop new treatments. The first demonstration of catalytic antibodies targeting the Alzheimer amyloid Beta protein in the blood was published by his group in 2007. In 2008 Dr Friedland and colleagues reported the first demonstration of a possible interaction involving molecular mimicry between protective anti-amyloid antibodies and exposure to a plant virus. Current studies are devoted to developing immunological approaches to the treatment of both Alzheimer and Parkinson’s diseases.

Academic and Community Education Activities

1. On Sep 17, 2011 at the Crowne Plaza we hosted a meeting for the community called “The Journey: Alzheimer’s Disease and Caregiving”. The session was attended by about 120 persons, many of whom were family caregivers. The talks were well received by the audience and there were many questions asked during the Q&A session as well as during the lunch break. The links below are video recordings of the talks. We plan to continue to host such educational meetings regarding Alzheimer disease and other dementias for the community each year.

Alzheimer Meeting Sep 17th 2011 Agenda Download PDF (453KB)

1. Opening Remarks (Suhas Kulkarni and Helen Lang): http://louisville.edu/television/Med/Alzheimers/OpeningRemarks1.asx
2. Dr Obisesan: http://louisville.edu/television/Med/Alzheimers/Obiesesan1.asx
3. Dr Robert Friedland: http://louisville.edu/television/Med/Alzheimers/Friedland1.asx
4. Dr. Karen Robinson: http://louisville.edu/television/Med/Alzheimers/Robinson1.asx
5. Dr Dee Antimisiaris: http://louisville.edu/television/Med/Alzheimers/Antimisiaris1.asx
6. Dr David Casey: http://louisville.edu/television/Med/Alzheimers/Casey1.asx
7. Johanna Weiss (Alzheimer Association, Louisville): http://louisville.edu/television/Med/Alzheimers/Weiss1.asx
8. Q&A http://louisville.edu/television/Med/Alzheimers/QandA1.asx
9. Panel Discussion: http://louisville.edu/television/Med/Alzheimers/Panel1.asx

Louisville Free Pubic Library series: Boom Time Series Jan 18, 2012
Dr. Robert Friedland. “Your brain: How to reduce your risk”
http://louisville.edu/television/Med/Alzheimers/Friedland.asx

Neurology Grand Rounds Mar 16, 2012
Dr. Robert Friedland. The Framing of the Concept of Dementia:
From Emil Kraepelin to National Institute of Aging
http://louisville.edu/television/Med/GrandRounds/NGR031612.asx

Recent Publications

Friedland RP, Armon C, Editorial - Tales of Pacific tangles: Cycad exposure and Guamanian neurodegenerative diseases, Neurology 68:1759-761, 2007.

Huang J, Friedland RP, Auchus AP, Diffusion tensor imaging of normal appearing white matter in MCI and early AD: Preliminary evidence of axonal degeneration in temporal lobe. American Journal of Neuroradiology 28:1943-48, 2007,

Taguchi H, Planque S, Nishiyama Y, Symersky J, Boivin S, Szabo P, Friedland RP, Ramsland PA, Edmundson AB, Weksler ME, Paul S. Autoantibody catalyzed hydrolysis of amyloid beta peptide. Journal of Biological Chemistry 283:4714-22, 2008.

Taguchi H, Planque S, Nishiyama Y, Szabo P, Weksler ME, Friedland RP, Sudhir S

Catalytic antibodies to amyloid β peptide in defense against Alzheimer disease Autoimmunity Reviews 7:391-7, 2008.

Gustaw KA,. Garrett MR , Lee H-G, Castellani RJ, Zagorski MG, Prakasam A, Siedlak SL, Zhu X, Perry G, Petersen RB, Friedland RP,. Smith MA Antigen-Antibody Dissociation in Alzheimer Disease: A Novel Approach to Diagnosis Journal of Neurochemistry 106:1350-1356, Epub 5/12/09).

Friedland RP, Tedesco JM, Wilson AC, Atwood CS, Smith MA, Perry G, Zagorski G. Antibodies to the potato virus Y bind the Aβ peptide: Immunochemical and NMR studies. Journal of Biological Chemistry 283:22550-22556, 2008 (Epub 5/27/08).

Chen CH, Mizuno T, Elston R, Kariuki MM, Hall K, Unverzagt F, Hendrie H, Gatere S, Kioy P, Patel NB, Friedland RP, Kalaria RN. A comparative study to screen dementia and APOE genotypes in an ageing East African population. Neurobiol Aging. 2008. [Epub ahead of print]

Kalaria RN, Maestre GE, Arizaga R, Friedland RP, Galasko D, Hall K, Luchsinger JA, Ogunniyi A, Perry EK, Potocnik F, Prince M, Stewart R, Wimo A, Zhang ZX, Antuono P; World Federation of Neurology Dementia Research Group. Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia in developing countries: prevalence, management, and risk factors Lancet Neurol. 2008 ;7:812-26. Epub 2008 Jul 28.

Glik A, Masarwa M, Abuful A, Deeb A, Strugatsky R, Farrer LA, Friedland RP, Essential tremor might be less frequent than Parkinson's disease in North Israel Arab villages. Inzelberg R Movement Disorders. 15:119-122, 2008. [Epub ahead of print].

Cuenco K, Friedland R, Baldwin C, Jianping G, Varadarajan B, Lunetta K, Cupples A, Green R, DeCarli C, Association of TTR polymorphisms with hippocampal atrophy in Alzheimer disease families. Farrer L Neurobiology of Aging. 2009, (Epub ahead of print)

Friedland RP, Brayne. What should the pediatrician know about Alzheimer’s disease? Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics 30:239-41, 2009

Friedland RP, Petersen RB, Rubenstein R. Bovine spongiform encephalopathy and aquaculture. Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease. 17:277-279, 2009. [Epub ahead of print]