I am pleased to announce that Silvia Fossati, PhD, has been appointed the Interim Director of the Alzheimer's Center at Temple University (ACT). Dr. Fossati will succeed Domenico Praticò, MD, who was named the inaugural Scott Richards North Star Charitable Foundation Chair for Alzheimer’s Research and Director of the Alzheimer’s Center in 2017. I want to thank Dr. Praticò for his service.
Fossati, who joined Temple in 2019 from NYU School of Medicine, served as the Associate Director of ACT and is an Associate Professor of Neural Sciences at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine. She has dedicated her career to unraveling the complexities of neurodegenerative disorders. For over 15 years, her research has focused on the mechanisms of cell death and stress in Alzheimer's Disease and cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA).
A major research emphasis of her group has been the definition of the contributions of vascular system defects to mechanisms and biomarkers of cognitive impairment and dementia, in work bridging the fields of cardiovascular diseases and neurobiology, published in high profile journals such as Aging Cell and Alzheimer’s & Dementia (the journal of the Alzheimer’s Association). The work in Dr. Fossati's laboratory has opened promising avenues for therapeutic discovery for neurodegenerative disorders. Dr. Fossati has received multiple prestigious awards as Principal Investigator, including NIH awards, honors from the American Heart Association and the Alzheimer’s Association, and the PA Cure Award.
In her new role, Dr. Fossati will advance the research mission of ACT by building strong interdisciplinary and translational research collaborations across Katz and Temple, and by recruiting and mentoring new faculty with research focus on neurodegeneration. Dr. Fossati is committed to fostering a culture of collaboration and excellence, inspiring high levels of scholarly productivity, providing mentorship, and offering opportunities for dynamic engagement among faculty, staff, and trainees. Additionally, she will champion innovative teaching programs, and promote diversity and inclusion for students and postdoctoral fellows associated with ACT.
As we begin the new fiscal year, we have much to celebrate at Katz School of Medicine and at Temple, and I am thrilled to have Dr. Fossati among our newest research leadership. Please join me in congratulating and supporting her as she continues to advance the important work of the Alzheimer's Center.
Amy J. Goldberg, MD, FACS The Marjorie Joy Katz Dean Lewis Katz School of Medicine
