Department of Alzheimer's disease and related disorders

Svetlana Ivanovna Gavrilova is the head of the Department of Alzheimer's disease and related disorders, doctor of medical sciences, professor. She upheld her PhD thesis “Clinical picture and course of schizophrenia complicated by cerebral atherosclerosis and arterial hypertension” in 1969, her doctoral thesis “Mental disorders in the elderly population (clinical, epidemiological and statistical evaluation)” in 1984. Her scientific interests involve gerontopsychiatric aspects of epidemiology, psychopharmacology, organization of psychiatric care, Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia of the elderly (clinical, diagnostic, biological and therapeutic aspects). She is an author of over 170 scientific publication and 5 monographs. She created a new direction of research in national psychiatry, namely, populational gerontopsychiatric epidemiology. Under her guidance, a conception of clinical and genetic heterogeneity of Alzheimer's disease was elaborated, a scientific basis for its pathogenetic therapy was substantiated, and a pre-out-care service of psychiatric care for the elderly population was organized. Under her supervision, 9 PhD's theses and 2 doctoral theses have been upheld. She is Chairman of the Commission on gerontological psychiatry of the Russian Association of Psychiatrists, Head of the Research and Methodology Centre on the study of Alzheimer's disease and related disorders of the MHRC RAMS, Vice-President of the Society of the Alzheimer's disease, member of editorial boards of 4 scientific journals. She takes part in collaborative research programs of World Federation of Alzheimer's Disease Associations and WHO on epidemiology of dementia, as well as in international multicenter research programs on psychopharmacology of Alzheimer's disease.

The Department was organized in 1994, on the basis of the unit of mental pathology of old age of the Institute for Preventive psychiatry of the MHRC RAMS. Its research is based on 3 geriatric units of the psychiatric hospital #15, consultative and diagnostic centre for patients with dementia and amnestic disorders, as well as an out-patient department for gerontological psychiatry in the territorial general medical centre #27.

From 1992, a centre for research and methodology of the study of Alzheimer's disease and related disorders has been functioning on the basis of this Department.

The department is staffed with 8 research fellows, 3 psychiatrists, an internist, and a psychologist.

Scope of research activities of the Department:

1. Investigation of morphological, functional and neurobiological basis of dementias of the Alzheimer's type (DAT), improvement of their systematization, diagnostic criteria and methods.

2. Clinico-epidemiological studies of Alzheimer's disease and of other mental disorders of the elderly; evaluation of risk and anti-risk factors of Alzheimer's disease.

3. Development of pathogenetic treatment of Alzheimer's disease and investigation into the possibilities to predict the response to treatment.

4. Assessment of the clinical features, dynamics and prognosis of the borderline forms of mental pathology of the elderly.

5. Evaluation of the role of social and environmental factors in the development of mental pathology of the elderly.

6. Improvement of scientific and organizational forms for specialized psychiatric care for the elderly.