Concepcion Goldberg, MD, PhD

Dr. Goldberg obtained her Medical Degree at the Complutense University of Madrid. She received her PhD in Molecular Biology from the same university in 1994. Her thesis work on the amino acid taurine in the CNS at  the “Ramon y Cajal” Hospital of Madrid, was  awarded “cum laudem” with outstanding achievement from the Complutense University of Madrid.

Dr Goldberg went on to a postdoctoral fellowship of five years at the National Institute of Mental Health at the lab of Dr. Bill Freed, a leader in neural transplants. There Dr. Goldberg engineered an immortalized cell line to produce GAD67, a critical enzyme in the production of GABA.

Dr. Goldberg worked as Scientist at the Stanley Brain Research Laboratory during 1999-2005, where she was involved in schizophrenia research and began her first work on microarrays on brain post-mortem human tissue. In 2005, she joined the Litwin-Zucker Research Center for the Study of Alzheimer’s Disease where she continued work on human post-mortem tissue from individuals who died having Alzheimer’s disease and/or individuals who carried the risk allele APOE4.

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the leading cause of dementia, affecting over 25 million people worldwide. Classical studies focused on the description and characterization of the pathological hallmarks found in AD patients, including neurofibrillary tangles and the amyloid plaques. Our strategies focus on the etiology of these hallmarks and the different mechanisms contributing to neurodegeneration.

We are examining every RNA found in the brain using a method based on cutting edge microarray technology. We are studying abnormal expression of RNA in tissue from people at high risk for AD and people with AD. We hope to identify novel brain chemicals that are involved in the pathological processes that result in neurodegenerative disease like AD, and also importantly, protective factors. This will help us identify brain chemicals that can become treatment targets for new drugs.

Our current work involves gene expression profiling approaches to Alzheimer’s disease and cellular models of neurodegeneration.  We have a collaboration with Terry Goldberg, PhD, also at the Center, on the study of post-mortem brain samples to examine regional differences in brain transcripts (i.e. brain chemicals) of people with genes that put them at risk for Alzheimer’s (namely APOE4 allele carriers) and other tissue from people who have no known major genetic risk factors (non APOE4 allele carriers). Differences in transcription may help explain why people with the APOE4 variant are at risk for late-onset Alzheimer’s. Critically, the post-mortem samples are from people who died of other causes, not Alzheimer’s, so we can isolate early causative changes in brain that drive the disease. We will follow up also these changes in AD brains so we can better understand the disease process itself.

We also focus our studies on a protein called tau that is found normally in neurons. However, when the tau protein aggregates into neurofibrillary tangles, it disrupts the integrity of the cells. We are using microarray studies to look at expression of the tau protein and secondary effects due to its different isoforms. In molecular experiments in living cells, we are examining the effects of abnormal tau on different cellular functions, and how different drugs may impact tau protein.

Shufen Chen, MD
Research Assistant
Research: Studies of Neuroprotection of APOE2 allele in Alzheimer’s Disease
E-mail: schen3@nshs.edu

Key Collaborators

Peter Davies, PhD
The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research
E-mail: pdavies@nshs.edu

Terry Goldberg, PhD
The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research
E-mail: tgoldber@nshs.edu

Thomas Hyde, MD., PhD
Lieber Institute
E-mail: thomas.hyde@libd.org

Joel Kleinman, MD., PhD, NIMH
E-mail: kleinmaj@intra.nimh.nih.gov

Mary Herman, MD, NIMH
E-mail: maryherman@mail.nih.gov

Complutense University, Madrid, Spain
Degree: MD
1989
Field of Study: Medicine & Surgery

Complutense University, Madrid, Spain
Degree: PhD
1994
Field of Study: Molecular Biology

Hospital “Ramon y Cajal”, Madrid, Spain
1994
Field of Study: Neuroscience

Postdoctoral Visiting Fellow, NIMH, St Elizabeths, Washington D.C.
Degree: Fellow
1997
Field of Study: Neuroscience

Postdoctoral Visiting Fellow, NIMH, Baltimore, Maryland
Degree: Fellow
1999
Field of Study: Neuroscience

1989 Scholarship holder of the I.F.M.S.A. (International Federation of Medical Students Association) in the Internal Medicine Department, Polyclinic of Bari, Italy
1990 Specialty – “Psychosomatic Pathology”. Complutense University of Madrid
1991 Scholarship holder of the Spanish Society of Neuroscience for the attendance at the lV Congress of the S.E.N., Alicante
1991 Fellowship holder of the “Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria de la Seguridad Social” (F.I.S.S.), at the “Ramón y Cajal” Hospital, Madrid
1992 Scholarship for attendance at the “II National Course of Neuroscience” at the Hispanoamerican University of La Rábida, Huelva
1992 Scholarship for the attendance at the “II Advance Course of Receptors for Neurotransmitters” at the Baleares Islands University, Palma de Mallorca
1994 Outstanding Achievement for Ph.D. in Basic Research, Complutense University, Madrid
2013 Souzan Hanna Research Faculty Career Development Award, Feinstein Institute for Medical Research

1. Conejero-Goldberg, C., Davies, P. and Ulloa, L. “Alpha7 Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor: a Link Between Inflammation and Neurodegeneration.” Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 32:693-706, 2008.

2. Conejero-Goldberg, C., Townsend, K., and Davies, P.  ”Effects of  Cell Cycle Inhibitor Drugs on Tau Phosphorylation in N2aTau3R cells.” Journal of Molecular Neuroscience, 35:143-150, 2008.

3. Goldberg TE, Koppel J, Keehlisen L, Christen E, Dreses-Werringloer U, Conejero-Goldberg C, Gordon ML. and Davies P. “Performance-based measures of everyday function in Mild Cognitive Impairment.” American Journal of Psychiatry, 2010 Jul;167(7):845-53.

4. Chen S., Townsend, K., Goldberg, TE., Davies, P., and Conejero-Goldberg, C  “MAPT Isoforms: Differential Transcriptional Profiles Related to 3R and 4R Splice Variants.” Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease 2010; 22 (4): 1313-29.

5. Conejero-Goldberg, C., Hyde, T.M., Chen, S., Dreses-Werringloer, U., Herman, M.M., Kleinman, J.E., Davies, P. and Goldberg T.E. “Molecular Signatures in Post-mortem Brain Tissue of Young Individuals at High Risk for Alzheimer’s Disease as based on APOE genotype.” Mol Psychiatry, 2011 Aug; 16(8): 836-47.

6. Conejero-Goldberg, C., and Terry E. Goldberg. “Very New Developments in Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer’s Disease: Why should a Psychiatrist care?.” Rev Psiquiatr Salud Ment  2011; 04:72-4- vol.04 num 02.

7. Gomar, J.,  Bobes-Bascaran, MT., Conejero-Goldberg, C., Davies, P. and Terry E. Goldberg. “Utility of Combinations of Biomarkers, Cognitive Markers, and Risk Factors to Predict Conversion from Mild Cognitive Impairment to Alzheimer’s Disease in Patients in the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative.” Archives of General Psychiatry, 2011; 68(9):961-969.

8. Schlatterer, SD., Suh, HS., Conejero-Goldberg, C., Chen, S., Acker, CM., Lee SC. and Davies, P. “Neuronal c-Abl Activation Leads to Induction of Cell Cycle and Interferon Signaling Pathways.” Journal of Neuroinflammation 2012 Aug 31;9:208.

9. Kirchberg, BC., Cohen, JR, Adelsky, MB., Buthorn, JJ., Gomar, JJ., Gordon, M., Koppel, J., Christen, E., Conejero-Goldberg, C., Davies, P., and Goldberg, TE. “Semantic Distance Abnormalities in Mild Cognitive Impairment: Their Nature and Relationship to Function.” American Journal of Psychiatry 2012 Dec 1;169(12):1275-83.

10. Gomar JJ, Gordon ML, Kingsley P, Ulug A, Koppel J, Christen E, Conejero-Goldberg C, Davies P, Goldberg TE. “Apoe Genotype Modulates Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Metabolites in the Aging Brain.” Biological Psychiatry. In press.

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