Investigations into geriatric psychiatry challenges: AAGP Senior Investigator Award 2000.

The author summarizes the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry Senior Investigator Award presentation delivered at the 13th Annual Meeting March 12-15, 2000, in Miami Beach, Florida, and reviews his research studies that define a trajectory leading to investigations of early detection and prevention of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Themes and critical transitions that fostered the research are emphasized, and effective collaboration, mentoring, and timing are discussed. These studies have combined neuroimaging and genetic methods to identify subjects before they develop AD, so that interventions might delay dementia onset. The eventual goal is to translate the clinical research discoveries into modern clinical practice.