Bridging the Gap - Alzheimer's Demonstration Grant

Change text size: A A A

Site Powered by
RTZ Associates

Steven W. Barger, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Geriatrics, Anatomy & Neurobiology, and Internal Medicine

A native of Searcy, Arkansas, Dr. Barger graduated from Hendrix College in 1987 with the Spessard Biology Award, then entered the Department of Cell Biology graduate program at Vanderbilt University. After receiving his Ph.D. in 1992, Dr. Barger began a postdoctoral fellowship at the Sanders-Brown Center on Aging at the University of Kentucky, where he received an award from the French Foundation for Alzheimer's Research and a National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Research Service Award. In 1995, he became an Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine and Anatomy at UAMS and was named the first recipient of the Inglewood Fellowship for Alzheimer's research. Dr. Barger received the annual research award from the Neurosciences Education and Research Foundation in 1999. He currently holds three NIH-sponsored grants, sits on the editorial board of three scientific journals, and serves on the 'Clinical Neuroscience and Brain Tumors' grant review panel for the NIH Center for Scientific Review. Dr. Barger currently advises a graduate student and three postdoctoral fellows. He is president of the Arkansas Chapter of the Society for Neuroscience and a member of the International Society for Neurochemistry.

Dr. Barger’s primary interest is in the events related to neuronal death caused by pathological insults (especially, excitotoxicity) and the protection against these insults afforded by changes in gene expression. Particular focus has been given to interactions between proteins implicated in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease. His laboratory also characterizes effects of these proteins and neurotransmitters on gene expression. A transcription factor has been identified that is activated by neuroprotective agents and suppressed by neurotoxins. This factor binds promoter elements present in the genes for antioxidant enzymes and an inhibitor of apoptotic cell death. Dr. Barger and coworkers have also documented a production of excitotoxic neurotransmitters by microglia, a specialized immune cell that resides in the central nervous system. When activated by agents associated with Alzheimer's disease, microglia produce and release harmful amounts of two such excitotoxins. Current work seeks to characterize the mechanisms involved in these effects.

Return to Meet the Experts page