Joseph F. Quinn

Biography

Dr. Joseph Quinn is an Associate Professor of Neurology at Oregon Health and Sciences University and a staff neurologist at the Portland VA Medical Center.  He completed his undergraduate studies in Biochemical Sciences at Harvard University, his MD at University of Southern California, his internship at LA County Hospital, and his neurology residency at Oregon Health and Sciences University. He has been on the faculty in Oregon since 1994. With grant support from the NIH and from the VA, he has conducted laboratory and clinical research on a number of such candidate therapies for Alzheimer’s disease, including ginkgo biloba, melatonin, lipoic acid, ibuprofen, resveratrol, coenzyme Q, copper chelation, and the omega 3 fatty acid DHA. His research is described as “translational”, which means Dr Quinn has no original ideas but instead attempts to bring established ideas from the laboratory to clinical trials. In some cases, such as copper chelation therapy, this means conducting animal studies to determine if clinical trials are warranted. In other cases, such as ibuprofen, this means conducting novel pilot clinical trials utilizing surrogate markers of disease in order to determine if a large scale clinical trial is warranted.  And in yet other cases, such as a national multi-center trial of DHA , this means designing and supervising a full scale clinical trial based on preclinical animal studies conducted and reported by other investigators. The specific positions held by Dr Quinn to support these research efforts include Biomarker Core Leader, Associate Clinical Core Leader, and Clinical Trials director for the NIA-funded Oregon Aging and Alzheimer’s disease center. Dr Quinn is also co-director of the Portland Parkinson’s Disease Research, Education, and Clinical Care Center. Dr. Joseph Quinn is an Associate Professor of Neurology at Oregon Health and Sciences University and a staff neurologist at the Portland VA Medical Center.  He completed his undergraduate studies in Biochemical Sciences at Harvard University, his MD at University of Southern California, his internship at LA County Hospital, and his neurology residency at Oregon Health and Sciences University. He has been on the faculty in Oregon since 1994. With grant support from the NIH and from the VA, he has conducted laboratory and clinical research on a number of such candidate therapies for Alzheimer’s disease, including ginkgo biloba, melatonin, lipoic acid, ibuprofen, resveratrol, coenzyme Q, copper chelation, and the omega 3 fatty acid DHA. His research is described as “translational”, which means Dr Quinn has no original ideas but instead attempts to bring established ideas from the laboratory to clinical trials. In some cases, such as copper chelation therapy, this means conducting animal studies to determine if clinical trials are warranted. In other cases, such as ibuprofen, this means conducting novel pilot clinical trials utilizing surrogate markers of disease in order to determine if a large scale clinical trial is warranted.  And in yet other cases, such as a national multi-center trial of DHA , this means designing and supervising a full scale clinical trial based on preclinical animal studies conducted and reported by other investigators. The specific positions held by Dr Quinn to support these research efforts include Biomarker Core Leader, Associate Clinical Core Leader, and Clinical Trials director for the NIA-funded Oregon Aging and Alzheimer’s disease center. Dr Quinn is also co-director of the Portland Parkinson’s Disease Research, Education, and Clinical Care Center.

Research Interest

Joseph′s research interests are clinical trials, biomarkers, and animal models in Alzheimer′s disease, and cognitive impairment in Parkinson′s disease.