Barry Reisberg, M.D.

JAD profile

Affiliation(s): 

New York Uiversity Langone Health

Areas of Interest: 

Alzheimer's & Dementia, clinical course of brain aging and Alzheimer's disease, behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia, preventiion of Alzheimer's disease, treatment of Alzheimer's disease.

Biography & Research: 

Barry Reisberg, M.D. Dr. Reisberg is a Professor, in the Department of Psychiatry at New York University Langone Health and Adjunct Professor in the Departments of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Psychiatry, and Medicine at the Centre for Studies in Aging, of the Faculty of Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, PQ, Canada. Dr. Reisberg has directed research over the past four decades which has significantly advanced current understanding and treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD). He was the first to describe many of the most important symptoms of AD and the characteristic clinical course of the disease. His staging tools are presently governmentally mandated measures throughout the U.S., in some Canadian and European provinces, and recommended in Japan. Dr. Reisberg’s work has been instrumental in the worldwide development of all three major current pharmacological treatment modalities for AD, i.e., glutamatergic antagonist treatment (memantine), treatment for behavioral disturbances in dementia (e.g., risperidone), and in the development and approval of cholinesterase inhibitor treatment (e.g., rivastigmine for mild to moderate dementia and donepezil for severe dementia). For example, Dr. Reisberg was the principal designer and Principal Investigator of the pivotal trial, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, which resulted in the US and European Union approval of the first treatment for advanced AD, memantine. Dr. Reisberg and his associates developed the concepts behind and coined the terminology, “mild cognitive impairment,” a now universally recognized entity. His descriptions of an even earlier clinically manifest stage - “subjective cognitive decline,” are increasingly being recognized as the earliest manifestations of AD in seemingly normal persons. At the other end of the severity spectrum, Dr. Reisberg’s staging procedures have been used in the pivotal worldwide trials of 2 of the 3 currently approved medications for advanced AD. Dr. Reisberg’s description of the retrogenic neurodevelopmental process in AD and related dementias is also advancing a new science of AD management and providing new insights into AD etiopathogenesis. In a 2017 study, Dr. Reisberg and his collaborators have demonstrated that a comprehensive, person-centered management program can provide 10 times the benefits of either current AD medications or traditional non-pharmacologic treatments. Dr. Reisberg has been the recipient of numerous grants and awards for his pioneering research including a Lifetime Achievement Award for Research in Alzheimer’s disease from the major worldwide organizations in the field. Dr. Reisberg is a psychiatrist and a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association. He is also a Geriatric Psychiatrist and he has served as President of the International Psychogeriatric Association, the leading international organization in this area. Additionally, Dr. Reisberg is a Fellow of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology. Dr. Reisberg is the Emeritus Director of the Clinical Core of the US National Institute on Aging (NIH) funded Alzheimer’s Disease Center of the New York University School of Medicine and Clinical Director of the Aging and Dementia Research Center of the NYU School of Medicine. Dr. Reisberg is also Director of the Zachary and Elizabeth M. Fisher Alzheimer's Disease Education and Resources Program at the NYU School of Medicine. These programs are investigating the onset, course and treatment of all stages of prodromal and manifest Alzheimer’s disease, as well as both pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic treatment and prevention of AD. E-mail: barry.reisberg@nyulangone.org Websites: http://www.med.nyu.edu/biosketch/reisbb01/research