Ivana Delalle, MD, PhD

Ivana Delalle, MD, PhD, is a board-certified pathologist specializing in neuropathology at Boston Medical Center and Professor of Anatomic Pathology in the Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine at the Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine.

Dr. Delalle is also the Laboratory Director of the Framingham Heart Study, a long-term study, spanning three generations of participants, that is committed to identifying the common factors or characteristics that contribute to cardiovascular disease (CVD).

Dr. Delalle’s research bridges basic and clinical science to advance the understanding of the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases. Her present focus, supported by the by the National Institute of Aging, is on novel, early, and reliable biomarkers of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). Recent studies, directed by Dr. Delalle and her co-senior authors at the University of Goettingen, Germany, and Indiana University, demonstrated that evaluating microRNAs in blood can be used not only to diagnose mild cognitive impairment (MCI) but also, critically, to predict the conversion from MCI to AD. Moreover, the team uncovered microRNA candidate molecular biomarkers that associate with current Amyloid, Tau, and Neurodegeneration AD biomarkers. These novel findings are important because, unlike current AD biomarkers, microRNAs may serve as blood molecular biomarkers years before AD-associated clinical symptoms begin, enabling successful AD prevention and/or early intervention to stop AD.