By C. Angela Burrow,Certified Dementia Practitioner & Trainer
I have invited my friend and colleague Aida Bertsch, MA CDP CMDCP, Gerontologist to honor world renowned Dr. Francisco Lopera RIP.
Dr. Francisco Lopera, born in Colombia, South America was a Neurologist and a pioneer researcher in Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases.
Early in his career in the early 1980’s, he founded the Neurosciences Group of Antioquia (GNA). The 1980’s were the beginning era of modern biotechnology, and a complex disease such as Alzheimer’s was a Herculean challenge for researchers. In 1982 Dr. Lopera saw a 47-year-old patient with memory loss and learned that the man’s father and grandfather and seven other relatives had suffered the same. He started following this group of families afflicted with hereditary early onset dementia in the mountainous region not far from where he grew up, close to 3 hours away from Medellin.
Dr. Lopera and his colleagues traced afflicted families and build their genealogies, painstakingly searching records in the villages, church birth, death, baptismal and marriage certificates. He hand sketched detailed family trees, tracing 25 families descended from an 18th century couple from Spain who settled in that region of Colombia. At the end, he identified about 6,000 descendants of that large clan. He decided to focus his research on these families and their disease, studying members from age 7 to the late 70s, and discovered an estimated 1,200 of them who carried the mutation that led to Mild Cognitive Impairment around age 44 and full-blown dementia by age 49.
Dr. Lopera and his team spent hundreds of hours at their homes, talking to those who were already afflicted, examining and treating those in advance stages of Dementia, and talking to their families. Prior to his research, people attributed the condition to witchcraft, superstition of touching a mysterious tree, or to a curse from a Spanish Colonial leader. People afflicted were shunned and institutionalized. Thanks to Dr. Lopera’s compassion and commitment to educating the families, they now understand the disease and are taking care of their family. They lovingly call him their “Angel and their Hero.”
Dr. Lopera dedicated decades of his life to study hereditary Alzheimer’s and his contribution was crucial to understanding the genetic variants of the disease. His original and innovative approach, along with his tireless search for effective treatments before the first cognitive impairment symptoms appear, opened new doors in research and offer hope to millions of people affected. The Alzheimer’s Community owes him a great deal for his enormous contribution.
He received “The Potamkin Award” for his research in Pick’s, Alzheimer’s, and Related Diseases, on April 14, 2024, in Denver, Colorado. Dr. Lopera is the first Latin American to receive this prestigious recognition, considered the most esteemed award in the neurodegenerative field disease research, awarded by “The American Academy of Neurology and the American Brain Foundation”.
At the ceremony preceding the official award presentation, Andi Potamkin, director of the award, expressed: “For me, as a family member and not as a scientist, the services Dr. Lopera offers go far beyond anything I have seen: he visits every home; he knows every person’s name; he breaks bread with those families, personally educating them about what is happening in real-time. And I mean hundreds of people! He develops treatment and education centers and has established social support programs that have benefited entire communities. He sees himself as part of a larger ecosystem and believes in looking after each other while conducting his research. I admire him immensely!
Although this recognition is considered on par with a Nobel Prize for Alzheimer’s research, it is awarded to one person. Dr. Lopera emphasized that his gratitude extended to his group of researchers, residents, patients, and to the dozens of students and health professionals who were part of the Neurosciences Group of Antioquia (GNA). “For us, he said, it is an honor and a source of pride, as well as for the University of Antioquia, as this award is the result from a collective effort.”
Sadly, we lost Dr. Lopera on Sept.10, 2024 at 73.
