J. Timothy Greenamyre, MD, PhD directs the Pittsburgh Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases (PIND). Steven T. DeKosky, MD, continues to provide support to the Institute in his capacity as Chair of the Department of Neurology and PIND Internal Advisory Board member.

Activities over the past year July 1, 2005–June 30, 2006 have included the continued review and allocation of space in new PIND laboratories on the 7th floor of the Biomedical Science Tower 3 (BST 3). Initially, there will be 12 independent, interacting laboratory groups in PIND space, with faculty members from the Departments of Neurology, Pharmacology, Geriatric Medicine and Structural Biology. The PIND investigators are a mix of scientists and clinician-scientists with varied backgrounds and expertise; they are also a mix of established University of Pittsburgh faculty and new recruits to the University. The first five laboratory groups moved into BST3 in April 2006; the remaining labs will move in July & August. State-of-the-art common-use, core equipment has been purchased and installed on the floor.

The PIND features the following special programs:

• Pilot studies program: The pilot studies program facilitates research and new ideas from faculty committed to neurodegenerative disease studies. It stimulates bright researchers from other areas to investigate neurodegenerative diseases and facilitate their entry into the field. In the past year four new projects have been funded. The PIND program has attracted a large number of people from nontraditional neuroscience fields who have pursued pilot funding and who subsequently received peer-reviewed grants from the NIH and other funding agencies.
• Lay Organization Working Group: The establishment of SPINS, Support Programs in Neurodegeneration and Stroke, continues to increase the dialogue among the community non-profit organizations serving patients and families dealing with Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, ALS, and stroke. Representatives from these community organizations, the Administrator of PIND and other volunteers focus on commonalties across the diseases, cross-participation in caregiver and educational lecture series, joint participation in health fairs and other community education events, and sharing referral resources.
• PIND support of lectures and seminars: PIND continues to co-sponsor lectures by both local and national investigators as well as support to the Neurology Grand Rounds program with a Visiting Professorship lecture series. In addition, external speakers present seminars and conduct small group discussions with colleagues in Pittsburgh. These seminars are cost-shared with other programs within the university including the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (ADRC), Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition (CNBC), the Stroke Institute, the Udall Center, and other neuroscience departments. Most recently, Dr. Greenamyre secured funding for the new PIND Distinguished Lecture Series, which will enable the PIND to invite investigators of international stature to visit Pittsburgh. The first PIND Distinguished Lecture was delivered in November 2005 by Dr. Fabio Blandini from Pavia, Italy.

The PIND was officially dedicated on April 27, 2006.