Dara L. Dickstein
- ASSISTANT PROFESSOR Neuroscience
- ASSISTANT PROFESSOR Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine
Print Profile
Research Topics
Education
Ph.D., University of British Columbia
Biography
Dr. Dickstein is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Neuroscience at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Her educational background is in molecular genetics and immunology. Her PhD work was focused on the role of inflammation in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) pathogenesis and utilized transgenic animal models along with various biochemical and anatomical techniques. Dr. Dickstein continued in the field of AD in her postdoctoral fellowship, exploring the structural changes in neurons and synapses with disease progression. Currently, Dr. Dickstein's research is directed towards the study of selective neuronal vulnerability in ageing, dementia, and other neurodegenerative disorders using classical neuropathological as well as modern quantitative methods. Dr. Dickstein has established much national and international collaboration, and has become an expert in the techniques of intracellular injections, fluorescence quantification, confocal and electron microscopy. Dr. Dickstein is a co-PL in the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center at Mount Sinai and a member of the Computational Neurobiology and Imaging Center (CNIC) at Mount Sinai. As a member of CNIC, she has contributed to the creation of an automated quantitative software tool (NeuronStudio) that enables accurate 3D analysis of individual neurons in the brain at very high resolution.
Websites:
Awards
2007 - 2007
The Microcirculatory Society Wiederhelm Award
Research
Neurobiology of Ageing and NeurodegenerationResearch in the Dickstein lab focuses on the structural changes on neurons with ageing and disease. Our main research interests focus on Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, specifically targeting cells of the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex, areas crucial for cognition. We also investigate the effects of cancers and chemotherapy on neuronal and synapse integrity. We use a combination of transgenic mouse models, neuroanatomy, and confocal and electron microscopy to analyze the changes that neurons and synapses undergo during disease.
Publications
Biron B, Dickstein DL, Gopaul R, Jefferies WA. Amyloidogenesis triggers extensive cerebral angiogenesis and hypervascularization causing blood brain barrier permeability in Alzheimer's disease. . PLoS One 2011; 6(8): e23789.
Bloss E, Morrison JH, Hof PR, Dickstein DL. Influence of aging and neurodegeneration on dendritic spine morphology. Translational Neuroscience 2011; 2(1): 49-60.
Dickstein DL, Brautigam H, Stockton, Jr SD, Schmeidler J, Hof HR. Changes in dendritic complexity and spine morphology in transgenic mice expressing human wild-type tau.. Brain Structure and Function 2010; 241((2-3)): 161-179.
Takahashi H, Brasnjevic I, Rutten B, Van Der Kolk N, Stainbusch H, Schmitz C, Hof PR, Dickstein DL. Hippocampal interneuron loss in an APP/PS1 double mutant mouse and in Alzheimer’s disease.. Brain Structure and Function 2010; 241((2-3)): 145-160.
Gama Sosa MA, De Gasperi R, Rocher AB, Wang A, Janssen W, Perez GM, Dickstein DL, Hof PR, Elder GA. Age-Related Vascular Pathology in Transgenic Mice Expressing Presenilin 1-Associated Familial Alzheimer's Disease Mutations.. American Journal of Pathology 2010; 176(1): 353-368.
Luebke JI, Weaver C, Rocher AB, Rodriguez A, Crimins JL, Dickstein DL. Dendritic vulnerability in Alzheimer’s disease and aging: insights from [review]. Brain Structure and Function 2010; 214((2-3)): 181-199.
Elder GA, Gama Sosa MA, De Gasperi R, Dickstein DL, Hof PR. Presenilin transgenic mice as models for Alzheimer’s disease. [review]. Brain Structure and Function 2010; 214((2-3)): 127-143.
Dickstein DL, Walsh JJ, Brautigam H, Stockton SD, Gandy S, Hof PR. The role of vascular risk factors and vascular dysfunction in Alzheimer’s disease. [review]. Mount Sinai Journal of Medicine 2010; 77(1): 82-102.
Bozdagi O, Sakurai T, Papapetrou D, Wang X, Dickstein DL, Scattoni ML, Takahashi N, Kajiwara Y, Harris MJ, Saxena R, Katz AM, Silverman JL, Yang M, Krug L, Zhou Q, Crawley JN, Hof PR, Buxbaum JD. Shank3 haploinsufficiency leads to altered synaptic development, transmission, and plasticity as well as to social deficits.. Molecular Autism 2010; 1(1): 1-15.
Brennan AR, Yuan P, Dickstein DL, Rocher AB, Hof PR, Manji H, Arnsten AF. Protein kinase C activity is associated with prefrontal cortical decline in aging.. 2009; 30(5): 782-792.
Franciosi S, Gama Sosa MA, English DF, Oler E, Oung T, Janssen W, De Gasperi R, Schmeidler J, Dickstein DL, Schmitz C, Gandy S, Hof PR, Buxbaum JD, Elder GA. Novel cerebrovascular pathology in mice fed a high cholesterol diet. . Molecular Neurodegeneration. 2009; 4(1): 42.
Pedrini S, Thomas C, Brautigam H, Schmeidler J, Ho L, Frase PP, Westaway D, St George-Hyslop P, Martins RN, Buxbaum JD, Pasinetti GM, Dickstein DL, Hof PR, Erlich ME, Gandy S. Dietary composition modulates brain mass and solubilizable Aβ levels in am mouse model of aggressive Alzheimer’s amyloid pathology. Molecular Neurodegeneration 2009; 40(1): 40.
Aslund A, Sigurdson CJ, Grathwohl S, Bolomont T, Dickstein DL, Glimsdal E, Klingstedt T, Prokop SS, Lindgren M, Konradsson P, Holtzman DM, Hof PR, Heppner FL, Gandy S, Hammarstrom P, Jucker M, Aguzzi A, Nilsson K. Novel pentameric thiophene derivatives for in vitro and in vivo optical imaging of a plethora of protein aggregates in cerebral amyloidoses . ACS Chemical Biology 2009; 4(8): 673-684.
Ho L, Chen LH, Wang J, Zhao W, Talcott ST, Ono K, Teplow D, Humala N, Cheng A, Percival SS, Ferruzzi M, Janle F, Dickstein DL, Pasinetti GM. Heterogeneity in red wine polyphenolic contents differentially influences Alzheimer’s disease-type neuropathology and cognitive deterioration.. Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease 2009; 16(1): 59-72.
Rodriguez A, Ehlenberger DB, Dickstein DL, Hof PR, Wearne SL. Automated three-dimensional detection and shape classification of dendritic spines from fluorescence microscopy images. PLoS ONE 2008; 3(4): e1997.
Franciosi S, De Gasperi R, Dickstein DL, English DF, Rocher AB, Janssen WG, Christoffel D, Sosa MA, Hof PR, Buxbaum JD, Elder GA. Pepsin pretreatment allows collagen IV immunostaining of blood vessels in adult mouse brain.. Journal of Neuroscience Methods 2007; 163(1): 76-82.
Dickstein DL, D. Kabaso D, Rocher AB, Luebke JI, Wearne SL, Hof PR. Changes in the structural complexity of the aged brain [review]. Aging Cell 2007; 6(3): 275-284.
Dickstein DL, Biron K, Ujiie M, Jefferies WA. Aß peptide immunization restored blood-brain barrier integrity in Alzheimer disease.. FASEB Journal 2006; 20(3): 426-433.
Wang J, L. Ho L, W. Zhao W, Seror I, Humala N, Dickstein DL, Thiyagarajan M, Percival SS, Talcott ST, Pasinetti GM. Moderate consumption of cabernet sauvignon attenuates Abeta neuropathology in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease. FASEB J. 2006; 13: 2313-2310.
Midthune B, Tyan SH, Walsh JJ, Sarsoza F, Eggert S, Hof PR, Dickstein DL, Koo EH. Deletion of the amyloid precursor-like protein 2 (APLP2) does not affect hippocampal neuron morphology or function. Molecular and cellular neurosciences 2012 Apr; 49(4).
Yadav A, Gao YZ, Rodriguez A, Dickstein DL, Wearne SL, Luebke JI, Hof PR, Weaver CM. Morphologic evidence for spatially clustered spines in apical dendrites of monkey neocortical pyramidal cells. The Journal of comparative neurology 2012 Feb;.
Industry Relationships
Physicians and scientists on the faculty of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai often interact with pharmaceutical, device and biotechnology companies to improve patient care, develop new therapies and achieve scientific breakthroughs. In order to promote an ethical and transparent environment for conducting research, providing clinical care and teaching, Mount Sinai requires that salaried faculty inform the School of their relationships with such companies.
Dr. Dickstein did not report having any of the following types of financial relationships with industry during 2012 and/or 2013: consulting, scientific advisory board, industry-sponsored lectures, service on Board of Directors, participation on industry-sponsored committees, equity ownership valued at greater than 5% of a publicly traded company or any value in a privately held company. Please note that this information may differ from information posted on corporate sites due to timing or classification differences.
Mount Sinai's faculty policies relating to faculty collaboration with industry are posted on our website at http://icahn.mssm.edu/about-us/services-and-resources/faculty-resources/handbooks-and-policies/faculty-handbook. Patients may wish to ask their physician about the activities they perform for companies.
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