Yale University
New Haven, CT
Christopher van Dyck, MD
Site PI
Christopher van Dyck serves as Co-Chair for the Protocol Evaluation Committee (PEC) and is a member of the Executive Committee for the ACTC. He is also Professor of Psychiatry, Neurology, and Neuroscience and Director of the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Unit at the Yale School of Medicine, and the Project Director for the “START” study of CT1812. Dr. van Dyck is a graduate of Yale College and Northwestern University Medical School. He completed his residency in psychiatry, fellowship in geriatric psychiatry, and research fellowship in neuroimaging before joining the faculty at Yale. Dr. van Dyck is a recognized leader in the neuroimaging and therapeutics of Alzheimer’s disease and brain aging. He is also Principal Investigator on grants from the National Institutes of Health, the pharmaceutical industry, and a number of private foundations and has authored more than 200 papers and reviews. Finally, Dr. van Dyck is extremely committed to advancing the cause of Alzheimer’s patients and their families on the local and national level. As a member of the Medical and Scientific Advisory Group (MSAG) of the Alzheimer’s Association, he is intimately involved with program development, advocacy, and education.
Ryan O’Dell, MD, PhD
Site Co-PI
Ryan O’Dell is a Geriatric Psychiatrist and Assistant Professor in the in the department of Psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine and the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Unit (ADRU). He completed his Adult Psychiatry and Geriatric Psychiatry Fellowship training at Yale, and developed expertise in clinical trials in Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders as well as molecular neuroimaging in Alzheimer’s disease. Currently, he is the Yale site PI for two Phase 2 clinical trials investigating the efficacy, tolerability, and safety of novel therapeutic agents in early Alzheimer’s disease, and a sub-investigator on several other clinical trials and longitudinal observational neuroimaging research protocols in both preclinical and early symptomatic Alzheimer’s disease. Additionally, he is the Yale site Co-PI for the Alzheimer’s Clinical Trial Consortium, director of the AAGP Teaching and Training Committee Journal Club, and a member of the Yale New Haven Hospital Lecanemab Clinical Oversight Committee. His research interests include the investigation of novel neuroimaging biomarkers across the continuum of Alzheimer’s disease, spanning the preclinical to clinical stages of dementia. This work has included studies investigating synaptic density in Alzheimer’s disease and exploring the relationship of synaptic loss with other biomarkers of Alzheimer’s disease pathogenesis, including amyloid, tau, glucose metabolism, CSF fluid biomarkers, cognitive performance, and MRI metrics.
Adam Mecca, MD, PhD
Site Co-PI
Adam Mecca, M.D., Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry and the Associate Director of the Yale Alzheimer’s Disease Research Unit. He received his B.S. in Chemistry, Microbiology and Cell Science from the University of Florida in 2005 before matriculating to the UF M.D.-Ph.D. program from which he graduated in 2012. Dr. Mecca completed a residency in Psychiatry and a fellowship in Geriatric Psychiatry at Yale University. He practices at the Yale Adler Geriatric Assessment center and is a faculty member in the Yale Department of Psychiatry. In his role as Associate Director of the Yale Alzheimer’s Disease Research Unit, Dr. Mecca works with a team to conduct clinical research of potential therapies for Alzheimer’s disease. He and his collaborators are developing neuroimaging methods to investigate the neurobiology of Alzheimer’s disease. Their recent efforts have led to a novel positron emission tomography imaging technique to measure decreases in the number of connections between nerve cells in people with Alzheimer’s disease. The goal of this work is to develop a clearer understanding of Alzheimer’s disease and develop treatments.
Carol Gunnoud
Site Liaison
Kimberly Sacaza
Community Engagement Specialist
