Faculty

William E Klunk, MD, PhD

Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry and Neurology and Levidow-Pittsburgh Foundation Chair in Alzheimer's Disease and Dementia Disorders

Contact Details

3811 O'Hara St.
Pittsburgh
 
PA
 
15213
Email
Assistant
Manik Debnath
debnathml@upmc.edu

Education & Training

MD
Washington University, School of Medicine
PhD
Neuropharmacology, Washington University, School of Medicine
General Psychiatry and Medicine, Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic of UPMC
Psychiatry, Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic of UPMC
Geriatric Neuropsychopharmacology, University of Pittsburgh

Current Appointments

Director, Laboratory of Molecular Neuropharmacology

Selected Honors & Awards

Zaven Khachaturian Award, Alzheimer's Association
Worlds Most Influential Scientific Minds, Thomson Reuters
Ronald and Nancy Reagan Research Institute Award for research in Alzheimers disease, Alzheimer's Association
Potamkin Prize for Research in Pick's, Alzheimer's, and Related Diseases, American Academy of Neurology
MetLife Foundation Awards for Medical Research, MetLife Foundation

Research Interests

Neuroimaging & blood biomarkers; Aging and dementia
Selected Research Publications & Products
  1. KLUNK WE, Engler H, Nordberg A, Wang Y, Blomqvist G, Holt DP, Bergstrom M, Savitcheva I, Huang G-F, Estrada S, Ausen B, Debnath ML, Barletta J, Price JC, Sandell J, Lopresti BJ, Wall A, Koivisto P, Antoni G, Mathis CA and Langstrom,B. Imaging brain amyloid in Alzheimers disease with Pittsburgh Compound-B (PIB). Annals of Neurology 2004;55:306-319.
  2. Handen BL, Cohen AD, Channamalappa U, Bulova P, Cannon SA, Cohen WI, Mathis CA, Price JC and KLUNK WE. Imaging brain amyloid in nondemented young adults with Down syndrome using Pittsburgh compound B. Alzheimers & Dementia 2012;8:496-501.
  3. Lopez OL, KLUNK WE, Mathis C, Coleman RL, Price J, Becker JT, Aizenstein HJ, Snitz B, Cohen A, Ikonomovic M, McDade E, DeKosky ST, Weissfeld L and Kuller LH. Amyloid, neurodegeneration, and small vessel disease as predictors of dementia in the oldest-old. Neurology 2014;83:1804-1811.
  4. KLUNK WE, Koeppe RA, Price JC, Benzinger TL, Devous MD, Sr., Jagust WJ, Johnson KA, Mathis CA, Minhas D, Pontecorvo MJ, Rowe CC, Skovronsky DM and Mintun MA. The Centiloid Project: Standardizing quantitative amyloid plaque estimation by PET. Alzheimers Dement 2015;11:1-15.
  5. Yau WY, Tudorascu DL, McDade EM, Ikonomovic S, James JA, Minhas D, Mowrey W, Sheu LK, Snitz BE, Weissfeld L, Gianaros PJ, Aizenstein HJ, Price JC, Mathis CA, Lopez OL and KLUNK WE. Longitudinal assessment of neuroimaging and clinical markers in autosomal dominant Alzheimer's disease: a prospective cohort study. Lancet Neurol 2015;14:804-813.

Clinical Interests

Alzheimer's disease; Dementia

Education Interests

Research mentorship

Recent Research on the Harmonization of Neuroimaging Data Using RAVEL and ComBat

Dr. Dana Tudorascu

Neuroimaging studies of structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) provide invaluable insights into the changes underlying neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease, but frequently combine data collected from multiple scanners and experimental conditions. These conditions can yield data containing substantial technical variability and biases due to differences in sites, scanners, and image...

Pitt Psychiatry Faculty Members Invited to Contribute to World Alzheimer Report 

Pitt Psychiatry Faculty Members Invited to Contribute to World Alzheimer Report 

In fall 2021, Alzheimer’s Disease International published World Alzheimer Report 2021: Journey though the diagnosis of dementia, a compendium of research on the disease, currently the seventh leading cause of mortality worldwide. The report addresses numerous challenges and complexities—including the prevalence of myths and misinformation—that inhibit effective diagnosis and treatment Alzheimer’s disease. Pitt...

Dr. William Klunk Named UPMC Senior Services 2019 Grand Champion for Contributions to Alzheimer’s Research 

Dr. William Klunk

We are proud to announce that William E. Klunk, MD, PhD (Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry and Neurology and Levidow-Pittsburgh Foundation Chair in Alzheimer's Disease and Dementia Disorders) and Chester Mathis, PhD (UPMC Endowed Chair of PET Research and Distinguished Professor of Radiology) have been honored as 2019 Grand Champions by UPMC Senior Services. This award is the highest honor given by UPMC Senior...

Publications by Department of Psychiatry Faculty Rank Among the Top 1% of Cited Works in 2018

2018 Highly Cited Psychiatry Researchers

Pictured above (left to right): Drs. William Klunk, David Lewis, Mary Phillips, Boris Birmaher, and Bernie Devlin The Department of Psychiatry is proud to announce that five current members of the faculty have been named Highly Cited Researchers for 2018: Boris Birmaher, MD; Bernie J. Devlin, PhD; William E. Klunk, MD, PhD; David A. Lewis, MD; and Mary L. Phillips, MD. Distinguished Emeritus Professor David J...