Westchester Mental Health Guild Annual Meeting

APRIL 21, 2010


David A. Moffet, Ph D

The guest speaker for the Westchester Mental Health Guild’s 2010 Annual meeting is Loyola Marymount University’s Dr. David A. Moffet, who will speak to us about “Untangling Alzheimer’s Disease.”  Moffet says: “Alzheimer’s disease represents a serious threat to the overall health of our nation.”  The Alzheimer’s Association estimates that 5.1 million Americans are currently afflicted with the disease.  Because the onset of Alzheimer’s disease is linked to age, the number of people afflicted with it will increase as our population ages.  If no treatments are found to slow the disease, it is estimated that 11 to 16 million people will be afflicted with Alzheimer’s disease by 2050.  Dr. Moffet will discuss the research being done at LMU, and the screening of thousands of substances to find those few that are capable of preventing the first step in the progression of Alzheimer’s disease. He will describe the characterization of several small peptides and small molecules discovered at LMU by undergraduate research students. Co-presenting with Dr. Moffet will be Daniel Georgie, a senior biochemistry major, and Mike Hunter, a junior biology major.  Both are in the process of applying for medical schools after they finish at LMU.

Dr. Moffet received his Bachelor’s Degree in chemistry (with a concentration in biochemistry) from Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania in 1997.  He earned a Ph D in chemistry and biochemistry from Princeton University in 2002.  While a graduate student, he began studying protein folding and misfolding systems, which included the proteins involved in Alzheimer’s disease.

He received a Ruth L. Kirschstein Postdoctoral Fellowship from the National Institutes of Health to study antibiotic-synthesizing bacteria at Brown University.   He joined the Chemistry and Biochemistry department at LMU in 2005.   

Members of our community and their friends are invited to join us to hear this prominent researcher and authority on Alzheimer’s disease, on April 21, 2010, at 10:30 a.m., in the Fellowship Hall at Covenant Presbyterian Church, 6323 West 80^th Street (at Sepulveda) in Westchester.  There is no charge for attending.

The Annual Meeting of the Guild will be held in the Covenant Presbyterian Church in the Sanctuary from 9:15 a.m. to 10:15 a.m. At the conclusion of the meeting, members and guests will adjourn to the Fellowship Hall for Dr. Moffet’s presentation.  Light refreshments will be served in the Fellowship Hall.

 RSVP to The Guilded Cage at (310) 641-7850 by April 16, 2010.