Robert Rissman

Dr. Rissman is Professor Physiology and Neuroscience and the W.M. Keck Endowed Chair in Medicine at the University of Southern California (USC). He is the founding Director of the Neuroscience Translational Research Division (NTRD) at USC’s San Diego campus, Alzheimer’s Therapeutic Research Institute (ATRI). Concurrently with his research, Dr. Rissman also serves as the Biomarker Unit Lead for the Alzheimer’s Clinical Trials Consortium (ACTC) and USC’s Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center. The NTRD is comprised by a wet laboratory space and a large biorepository of -80 freezers to store specimens from clinical trials and longitudinal cohort studies. Using biobanked human specimens, animal and cell models, the goal of Dr. Rissman’s basic science research is to identify and validate plasma biomarkers for Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders (ADRD) to better understand mechanisms of neurodegeneration and to streamline clinical trials recruitment. Work from Dr. Rissman’s lab has led to the validation of plasma biomarkers that predict AD brain neuropathology and progression of dementia and through analysis of plasma-derived extracellular vesicles, his group was also the first to demonstrate that TDP-43 protein within astrocyte extracellular vesicles can identify Limbic-predominant age-related TDP-43 encephalopathy (LATE). Using animal and cell culture models, Dr. Rissman’s lab is focused on understanding how synucleinopathy and other common comorbidities in AD can be identified and treated.

• Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease: Mark Smith Alzheimer’s Award, 2024

• University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA — BS — 06/1996
• Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadephia, PA — PhD — 12/2001
• University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA — Postdoc — 01/2005
• Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA — Staff Scientist — 09/2008

• Impact of Ethnicity on the Utility of Plasma Amyloid and Tau to Predict Alzheimer's Disease
  NIH · R01AG088623 · Sep 1, 2024 – May 31, 2029 · Role: Principal Investigator
• Impact of TBI and Cognitive Decline on Alzheimer's Disease Brain-Derived Exosome Cargo
  NIH · RF1AG079303 · Jun 1, 2023 – May 31, 2026 · Role: Principal Investigator
• The Health & Aging Brain Study – Health Disparities (HABS-HD)
  NIH · U19AG078109 · Sep 30, 2022 – Aug 31, 2027 · Role: Co-Principal Investigator
• Precision Medicine for Inflammatory Treatment for Alzheimer's Disease in Down Syndrome
  NIH · R01AG073979 · Sep 30, 2021 – Aug 31, 2026 · Role: Principal Investigator
• Novel Systemic Delivery of Peptide-Mediated Anti-Sense Oligonucleotides for Dementia with Lewy Bodies
  NIH · R01AG072053 · May 15, 2021 – Apr 30, 2026 · Role: Principal Investigator
• Novel Systemic Delivery of Peptide-Mediated Anti-Sense Oligonucleotides for Dementia with Lewy Bodies
  NIH · RF1AG072053 · May 15, 2021 – Apr 30, 2024 · Role: Principal Investigator
• Identifying Molecular Signatures associated with Alzheimer's Disease in the Retina
  NIH · R21AG070595 · Sep 11, 2020 – Aug 31, 2022 · Role: Principal Investigator
• Health and Aging Brain among Latino Elders (HABLE-AT(N)) Study
  NIH · R01AG058533 · Aug 1, 2020 – Apr 30, 2026 · Role: Co-Principal Investigator
• Novel Antagonists of the N-terminal Domain of the CRF Receptor Type 1 for Alzheimer's Disease
  NIH · RF1AG065385 · Jan 15, 2020 – Dec 31, 2023 · Role: Principal Investigator
• Neuronal exosomes to identify biomarkers and pathology of deployment-related TBI
  NIH · I01BX004312 · Oct 1, 2018 – Sep 30, 2022 · Role: Co-Principal Investigator
• Amyloid Burden among Mexican Americans
  NIH · R56AG058533 · Sep 30, 2018 – Jul 31, 2020 · Role: Co-Principal Investigator
• A Blood Test for Screening Into Alzheimer's Prevention Trials
  NIH · R01AG058252 · Sep 15, 2017 – Jun 30, 2022 · Role: Co-Principal Investigator
• Proteomic characterization of exosomes from AD patients
  NIH · R56AG057459 · Sep 15, 2017 – Aug 31, 2019 · Role: Co-Principal Investigator
• Biogenesis of Exosomes, Secretion, and Trafficking in Alzheimer's Disease
  NIH · R56AG057469 · Sep 15, 2017 – Aug 31, 2019 · Role: Principal Investigator
• A Proinflammatory Endophenotype to Predict NSAID Treatment Response Alzheimer's Disease Clinical Trials
  NIH · R01AG051848 · Sep 1, 2016 – Mar 31, 2021 · Role: Co-Principal Investigator
• Pathogenicity of neuronally-derived tau in exosomes
  NIH · R21AG051839 · Sep 1, 2016 – Apr 30, 2018 · Role: Principal Investigator
• Validation Studies of CRF Receptor 1 as a Target for AD
  NIH · I01BX003040 · Jul 1, 2016 – Jun 30, 2021 · Role: Principal Investigator
• Systems biology of HIV, methamphetamine and antiretrovirals interactions
  NIH · R01DA041750 · May 1, 2016 – Apr 30, 2021 · Role: Co-Principal Investigator
• Polytherapy for AD: Combining Gamma-secretase Modulation and CRFR1 Antagonism
  NIH · R21AG047484 · Sep 1, 2014 – Apr 30, 2016 · Role: Co-Principal Investigator
• Stress and CRF Signaling in Alzheimer?s Disease Pathogenesis
  NIH · R01AG032755 · Aug 15, 2008 – Jul 31, 2014 · Role: Co-Principal Investigator
• Role of Intracellular ABeta in Tau Pathology
  NIH · F32AG023433 · Jan 1, 2004 – Dec 31, 2004 · Role: Principal Investigator
• a-Synuclein vulnerability mechanisms and therapeutics in Alzheimer's Disease
  NIH · R01AG018440 · Sep 1, 2001 – May 31, 2022 · Role: Principal Investigator

• Aisen, Paul
• Thompson, Paul
• Toga, Arthur
• Rafii, Michael
• Ringman, John
• Zlokovic, Berislav