Research & Sponsored Programs Report ResearchAnnual201819-electronic | Page 17

high-school
students
and
12  middle- and high-school
teachers, who  learned about
Cybersecurity First Principles
through hands-on, interactive ac-
tivities in the UWF Cybersecurity
Battle Lab.
For the past two years, the
Pathways to Cyber program has
been funded by the National
Security Agency and the National
Science Foundation. UWF was
the only institution in the state to
receive that funding during that
period, El-Sheikh said.
“It allows us to take the mes-
sage of increasing cybersecurity
awareness and interest to the
youth and helps teachers develop
curriculum to implement in their
classes while making it all free of
cost,” El-Sheikh said.
High-achieving students at UWF
are recruited as cybersecurity am-
bassadors and play an important
role in sharing their knowledge of
cybersecurity with K-12 students
and teachers, El-Sheikh said.
“They become peer mentors at
the camps, and during the rest
of the year, they visit schools and
community events and continue
the message,” she said.
Study at UWF tests medication
to reduce agitation due to
Alzheimer’s disease
The University of West Florida is
conducting clinical trials to eval-
uate if investigational medica-
tions can reduce the symptoms of
agitation caused by Alzheimer’s
disease.
“If these were to come to market,
they would be the first drugs
approved to treat agitation asso-
ciated with Alzheimer’s disease,”
said Dr. Rodney Guttmann, a bi-
ology professor at UWF who is
presiding over the research study.
To be eligible for the study,
someone must have moderate
to severe agitation due to
Alzheimer’s disease, be 50-90
years old and have a caregiver
who is able to attend eight re-
quired appointments. Guttmann
said he is looking for up to 25
participants for each clinical trial.
“They will be on the investiga-
tional drug or a placebo for 12
weeks with up to a four-week
screening period, and there’s one
30-day follow up visit. So really
it’s a four-month trial,” Guttmann
said.
Each study also has a long-term,
open-label study, of which par-
ticipants who complete the dou-
ble-blind study may be eligible
to enroll. An open-label study
is a type of study in which both
the researchers and participants
are aware of the treatment being
administered.
Everyone enrolled in these long-
term studies receives the study
2018-2019 Research Annual Report
drug – there is no placebo.
Agitation
in
patients
with
Alzheimer’s
disease
affects
about 80 percent of the 5.4
million people diagnosed with
Alzheimer’s disease. Behavioral
traits of agitation can include
restlessness, such as wandering
and fidgeting; as well as verbal
and physical aggression, such as
shouting or pushing. Participants
must
be
diagnosed
with
Alzheimer’s disease and have
agitation symptoms in order to
qualify.
Participants may live in their
homes or an assisted living facility
but must have a reliable caregiver
to accompany them to the visits.
A small stipend is provided to ac-
count for time and effort.
The clinical trial, which will in-
clude cognitive assessments and
medical exams, is voluntary, and
participants can stop at any time.
There is no cure for Alzheimer’s
disease. The disease is not only
devastating for the patient, but
also can cause great stress to the
caregiver, Guttmann said.
“We need to be able to do some-
thing for people today. So clinical
trials are the approach to do that
and find out what types of thera-
pies, interventions, could be em-
ployed to help improve people’s
quality of life – both the patient
and the caregiver,” Guttmann
said.
Guttmann’s basic science research
Dr. Rodney Guttmann
agenda involves investigations to
identify biomarkers that can be
discovered in the cerebrospinal
fluid or blood for the early detec-
tion of Alzheimer’s disease. Most
recently he has been focused on
identifying changes to the tau
protein that may be associated
with Alzheimer’s disease pro-
gression. Alterations to the tau
protein are one of the two major
neuropathologies associated with
the disease and it is hypothesized
that changes to tau may occur
many years prior to memory
decline.
If successful, it is predicted that
early detection of Alzheimer’s
disease
before
significant
memory impairment will offer a
better chance to slow or prevent
progression. According to recent
research, a delay of Alzheimer’s
disease by just five years results
in a little more than $500,000
in savings to Medicare/Medicaid
per patient with an added three
years of life, five years AD-free.
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