Dr. Ghetti investigates neurodegenerative dementias using human tissue and animal models. Dr. Ghetti's approach begins with the neuropathologic analysis: the identification of the brain's neurodegenerative changes determines the direction of the molecular investigations at the protein and DNA levels and has led to the identification of the etiological basis of several forms of dementia. In 1989, he discovered the first hereditary dementia, characterized by the coexistence of prion protein amyloid and neurofibrillary tangles. Subsequently, Dr. Ghetti's team identified genetic mutations in the APP, PSEN1, PRNP, and other genes causing neurodegeneration. In 1993, Dr. Ghetti began studying a hereditary form of frontotemporal dementia, characterized by tau deposits in neurons and glia. In 1998, by identifying the genetic defect causing that disorder, Dr. Ghetti's international team was among the first to discover mutations in the MAPTgene.
Principal Investigator
![13352-Ghetti, Bernardino]( "13352-Ghetti, Bernardino")
Bernardino Ghetti, MD
Distinguished Professor
Bernardino Ghetti, MD, obtained a doctorate in medicine and completed specialization in mental and nervous diseases at the University of Pisa, Italy. At the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, he received training as a research fellow in experimental neuropathology and then as a resident in pathology and neuropathology.
Dr. Ghetti is the founder of the Indiana Alzheimer Disease Research Center and served as its first director from 1991–2013. Dr. Ghetti served as president of the American Association of Neuropathologists, the International Society of Neuropathology. He is the founder and served as the first president of the International Society for Frontotemporal Dementias.