Joseph C. Masdeu, MD, PhD

Graham Family Distinguished Chair for Neurological Sciences, Stanley H. Appel Department of Neurology
Professor of Neurology, Academic Institute
Director, Nantz National Alzheimer Center
Houston Methodist
Weill Cornell Medical College


Research Lab


Biography

Dr. Masdeu trained in Psychiatry at the University of Valencia in Spain and in Neurology at Mt. Sinai Hospital in Chicago. He then served as a Fellow in Neuropathology at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital at Harvard Medical School. He was an Assistant and Associate Professor of Neurology at the Albert Einstein School of Medicine in New York, and has served as a Professor and Chair of Neurology at New York Medical College. Dr. Masdeu became a Professor and Chair of Neurology and Neuroscience at the University of Navarre Medical School in Pamplona, Spain. From 2008-2014, Dr. Masdeu was a senior staff physician and scientist in the Section of Integrative Neuroimaging of the Clinical Brain Disorders Branch at the National Institutes of Health. He is chairman of the Neuroimaging Research Group of the World Federation of Neurology. He has been a director of the American Academy of Neurology and president of the American Society of Neuroimaging. Since 2007, he has been Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Neuroimaging. He is the author of 144 peer-reviewed papers, 62 book chapters, and seven books, including Localization in Clinical Neurology, a standard in the field, now in its 6th edition. Dr. Masdeu joined the Houston Methodist Research Institute in 2014. 

Description of Research

Dr. Masdeu’s main areas of research have been the following:

-Clarifying the neurobiology of Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative disorders
-Using spontaneous lesion models and/or imaging to map the localization of function in the human brain
-Developing novel neuroimaging signs and implementing neuroimaging as a biomarker of neurological disease

Areas Of Expertise

Alzheimer’s disease Brain lesions Neuroimaging Psychoses Beta-amyloid
Education & Training

PhD, Facultad de Medicina de la Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona
Postdoctoral Fellowship, Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Publications

Brain inflammation co-localizes highly with tau in mild cognitive impairment due to early-onset Alzheimer's disease
Appleton, J, Finn, Q, Zanotti-Fregonara, P, Yu, M, Faridar, A, Nakawah, MO, Zarate, C, Carrillo, M, Dickerson, BC, Rabinovici, G, Apostolova, LG, Masdeu, JC & Pascual, B 2024, , Brain. https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awae234

Examining Associations Between Smartphone Use and Clinical Severity in Frontotemporal Dementia: Proof-of-Concept Study
ALLFTD consortium 2024, , JMIR Aging, vol. 7, e52831, pp. e52831. https://doi.org/10.2196/52831, https://doi.org/10.2196/52831

Examining Associations Between Smartphone Use and Clinical Severity in Frontotemporal Dementia: Proof-of-Concept Study
ALLFTD consortium 2024, , JMIR Aging, vol. 7, pp. e52831. https://doi.org/10.2196/52831

Anterior insula is more vulnerable than posterior insula to TDP-43 pathology in common dementias and ALS
Lochner, RH, Arumanayagam, AS, Powell, SZ, Masdeu, JC, Pascual, B & Cykowski, MD 2024, , Journal of Neuropathology and Experimental Neurology, vol. 83, no. 5, pp. 307-317. https://doi.org/10.1093/jnen/nlae027

Research Participants' Perspectives on Precision Diagnostics for Alzheimer's Disease
Smith, HS, Robinson, JO, Levchenko, A, Pereira, S, Pascual, B, Bradbury, K, Arbones, V, Fong, J, Shulman, JM, Mcguire, AL & Masdeu, J 2024, , Journal of Alzheimers Disease, vol. 97, no. 3, pp. 1261-1274. https://doi.org/10.3233/JAD-230609

Reliability and Validity of Smartphone Cognitive Testing for Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration
Staffaroni, AM, Clark, AL, Taylor, JC, Heuer, HW, Sanderson-Cimino, M, Wise, AB, Dhanam, S, Cobigo, Y, Wolf, A, Manoochehri, M, Forsberg, L, Mester, C, Rankin, KP, Appleby, BS, Bayram, E, Bozoki, A, Clark, D, Darby, RR, Domoto-Reilly, K, Fields, JA, Galasko, D, Geschwind, D, Ghoshal, N, Graff-Radford, N, Grossman, M, Hsiung, GY, Huey, ED, Jones, DT, Lapid, MI, Litvan, I, Masdeu, JC, Massimo, L, Mendez, MF, Miyagawa, T, Pascual, B, Pressman, P, Ramanan, VK, Ramos, EM, Rascovsky, K, Roberson, ED, Tartaglia, MC, Wong, B, Miller, BL, Kornak, J, Kremers, W, Hassenstab, J, Kramer, JH, Boeve, BF, Rosen, HJ & Boxer, AL 2024, , JAMA Network Open, pp. E244266. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.4266

Prognostic relevance of gait-related cognitive functions for dementia conversion in amnestic mild cognitive impairment
Alzheimers Disease Neuroimaging Initiative 2023, , BMC Geriatrics, vol. 23, no. 1, 462. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-023-04175-8

A phase 1 open-label pilot study of low-dose interleukine-2 immunotherapy in patients with Alzheimer’s disease
Faridar, A, Eid, AM, Thome, AD, Zhao, W, Beers, DR, Pascual, MB, Nakawah, MO, Roman, GC, Davis, CS, Grundman, M, Masdeu, JC & Appel, SH 2023, , Translational Neurodegeneration, vol. 12, no. 1, 54, pp. 54. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40035-023-00387-5

A phase 1 open-label pilot study of low-dose interleukine-2 immunotherapy in patients with Alzheimer's disease
Faridar, A, Eid, AM, Thome, AD, Zhao, W, Beers, DR, Pascual, MB, Nakawah, MO, Roman, GC, Davis, CS, Grundman, M, Masdeu, JC & Appel, SH 2023, , Translational Neurodegeneration, vol. 12, no. 1, pp. 54. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40035-023-00387-5

Sex and APOE e4 carrier effects on atrophy, amyloid PET, and tau PET burden in early-onset Alzheimer's disease
Nemes, S, Logan, PE, Manchella, MK, Mundada, NS, La Joie, R, Polsinelli, AJ, Hammers, DB, Koeppe, RA, Foroud, TM, Nudelman, KN, Eloyan, A, Iaccarino, L, Dorsant-Ardón, V, Taurone, A, Thangarajah, M, Dage, JL, Aisen, P, Grinberg, LT, Jack, CR, Kramer, J, Kukull, WA, Murray, ME, Rumbaugh, M, Soleimani-Meigooni, DN, Toga, A, Touroutoglou, A, Vemuri, P, Atri, A, Day, GS, Duara, R, Graff-Radford, NR, Honig, LS, Jones, DT, Masdeu, J, Mendez, MF, Musiek, E, Onyike, CU, Riddle, M, Rogalski, E, Salloway, S, Sha, SJ, Turner, RS, Wingo, TS, Womack, KB, Wolk, DA, Rabinovici, GD, Carrillo, MC, Dickerson, BC & Apostolova, LG 2023, , Alzheimers and Dementia, vol. 19, no. S9, pp. S49-S63. https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.13403

Circular-SWAT for deep learning based diagnostic classification of Alzheimer's disease: application to metabolome data
Alzheimers Disease Metabolomics Consortium (ADMC) & Alzheimers Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) 2023, , EBioMedicine, vol. 97, 104820. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ebiom.2023.104820

Cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers in the Longitudinal Early-onset Alzheimer's Disease Study
Dage, JL, Eloyan, A, Thangarajah, M, Hammers, DB, Fagan, AM, Gray, JD, Schindler, SE, Snoddy, C, Nudelman, KNH, Faber, KM, Foroud, T, Aisen, P, Griffin, P, Grinberg, LT, Iaccarino, L, Kirby, K, Kramer, J, Koeppe, R, Kukull, WA, La Joie, R, Mundada, NS, Murray, ME, Rumbaugh, M, Soleimani-Meigooni, DN, Toga, AW, Touroutoglou, A, Vemuri, P, Atri, A, Beckett, LA, Day, GS, Graff-Radford, NR, Duara, R, Honig, LS, Jones, DT, Masdeu, JC, Mendez, MF, Musiek, E, Onyike, CU, Riddle, M, Rogalski, E, Salloway, S, Sha, SJ, Turner, RS, Wingo, TS, Wolk, DA, Womack, KB, Carrillo, MC, Dickerson, BC, Rabinovici, GD & Apostolova, LG 2023, , Alzheimers and Dementia, vol. 19, no. S9, pp. S115-S125. https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.13399

The Sporadic Early-onset Alzheimer's Disease Signature Of Atrophy: Preliminary Findings From The Longitudinal Early-onset Alzheimer's Disease Study (LEADS) Cohort
Touroutoglou, A, Katsumi, Y, Brickhouse, M, Zaitsev, A, Eckbo, R, Aisen, P, Beckett, L, Dage, JL, Eloyan, A, Foroud, T, Ghetti, B, Griffin, P, Hammers, D, Jack, CR, Kramer, JH, Iaccarino, L, Joie, RL, Mundada, NS, Koeppe, R, Kukull, WA, Murray, ME, Nudelman, K, Polsinelli, AJ, Rumbaugh, M, Soleimani-Meigooni, DN, Toga, A, Vemuri, P, Atri, A, Day, GS, Duara, R, Graff-Radford, NR, Honig, LS, Jones, DT, Masdeu, JC, Mendez, MF, Musiek, E, Onyike, CU, Riddle, M, Rogalski, E, Salloway, S, Sha, S, Turner, RS, Wingo, TS, Wolk, DA, Womack, K, Carrillo, MC, Rabinovici, GD, Apostolova, LG & Dickerson, BC 2023, , Alzheimers and Dementia, vol. 19, no. S9, pp. S74-S88. https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.13466

Influence of amyloid and diagnostic syndrome on non-traditional memory scores in early-onset Alzheimer's disease
Bushnell, J, Hammers, DB, Aisen, P, Dage, JL, Eloyan, A, Foroud, T, Grinberg, LT, Iaccarino, L, Jack, CR, Kirby, K, Kramer, J, Koeppe, R, Kukull, WA, La Joie, R, Mundada, NS, Murray, ME, Nudelman, K, Rumbaugh, M, Soleimani-Meigooni, DN, Toga, A, Touroutoglou, A, Vemuri, P, Atri, A, Day, GS, Duara, R, Graff-Radford, NR, Honig, LS, Jones, DT, Masdeu, J, Mendez, M, Musiek, E, Onyike, CU, Riddle, M, Rogalski, E, Salloway, S, Sha, S, Turner, RS, Wingo, TS, Wolk, DA, Carrillo, MC, Dickerson, BC, Rabinovici, GD, Apostolova, LG & Clark, DG 2023, , Alzheimers and Dementia, vol. 19, no. S9, pp. S29-S41. https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.13434

Amyloid and tau-PET in early-onset AD: Baseline data from the Longitudinal Early-onset Alzheimer's Disease Study (LEADS)
LEADS Consortium 2023, , Alzheimers and Dementia, vol. 19, no. S9, pp. S98-S114. https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.13453

White matter hyperintensities are higher among early-onset Alzheimer's disease participants than their cognitively normal and early-onset nonAD peers: Longitudinal Early-onset Alzheimer's Disease Study (LEADS)
Eloyan, A, Thangarajah, M, An, N, Borowski, BJ, Reddy, AL, Aisen, P, Dage, JL, Foroud, T, Ghetti, B, Griffin, P, Hammers, D, Iaccarino, L, Jack, CR, Kirby, K, Kramer, J, Koeppe, R, Kukull, WA, La Joie, R, Mundada, NS, Murray, ME, Nudelman, K, Rumbaugh, M, Soleimani-Meigooni, DN, Toga, A, Touroutoglou, A, Atri, A, Day, GS, Duara, R, Graff-Radford, NR, Honig, LS, Jones, DT, Masdeu, J, Mendez, MF, Musiek, E, Onyike, CU, Rogalski, E, Salloway, S, Sha, S, Turner, RS, Wingo, TS, Wolk, DA, Womack, K, Beckett, L, Gao, S, Carrillo, MC, Rabinovici, G, Apostolova, LG, Dickerson, B & Vemuri, P 2023, , Alzheimers and Dementia, vol. 19, no. S9, pp. S89-S97. https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.13402

PET-measured human dopamine synthesis capacity and receptor availability predict trading rewards and time-costs during foraging
Ianni, AM, Eisenberg, DP, Boorman, ED, Constantino, SM, Hegarty, CE, Gregory, MD, Masdeu, JC, Kohn, PD, Behrens, TE & Berman, KF 2023, , Nature Communications, vol. 14, no. 1, 6122, pp. 6122. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-41897-0

Plasma inflammation for predicting phenotypic conversion and clinical progression of autosomal dominant frontotemporal lobar degeneration
Asken, BM, Ljubenkov, PA, Staffaroni, AM, Casaletto, KB, Vandevrede, L, Cobigo, Y, Rojas-Rodriguez, JC, Rankin, KP, Kornak, J, Heuer, H, Shigenaga, J, Appleby, BS, Bozoki, AC, Domoto-Reilly, K, Ghoshal, N, Huey, E, Litvan, I, Masdeu, JC, Mendez, MF, Pascual, B, Pressman, P, Tartaglia, MC, Kremers, W, Forsberg, LK, Boeve, BF, Boxer, AL, Rosen, HJ & Kramer, JH 2023, , Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, vol. 94, no. 7, pp. 541-549. https://doi.org/10.1136/jnnp-2022-330866

Plasma inflammation for predicting phenotypic conversion and clinical progression of autosomal dominant frontotemporal lobar degeneration
ALLFTD Consortium Investigators 2023, , Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry, vol. 94, no. 7, pp. 541-549. https://doi.org/10.1136/jnnp-2022-330866

Regional Neuroanatomic Effects on Brain Age Inferred Using Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Ridge Regression
Alzheimers Disease Neuroimaging Initiative 2023, , Journals of Gerontology - Series A Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, vol. 78, no. 6, pp. 872-881. https://doi.org/10.1093/gerona/glac209