Jonathan Valla,
PhD
Division of
Neurology
St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center
350 West Thomas Road
Phoenix, Arizona 85013
Tel: 602-406-4755
Education:
1990-1994 Bachelor of Arts, Minnesota State University
at Mankato
Major Program:
Psychology
Minor Program: Technical Writing
Honors: Magna Cum Laude, Phi Kappa Phi, Psi Chi
1994-1999 Doctor of Philosophy,
University of Texas at Austin
Major Program:
Neuroscience
Minor Program: Statistics
Department: Psychology
Advisor: F. Gonzalez-Lima, Ph.D.
Dissertation: Cytochrome Oxidase in Brain Metabolism and
Alzheimer's Disease
Positions and
Employment:
1994-1997 Graduate
Teaching Assistant, Psychology Department, University of Texas at
Austin
1994-1999 Graduate Research Associate, University of
Texas at Austin
1999 Instructor (Biopsychology), Department
of Psychology, University of Texas at
Austin
2000-2003 Neuroscientist, Harrington Research Center and
Arizona Alzheimer's Disease Consortium,
Phoenix
2000-2001 Visiting Scientist, Sun Health Research
Institute, Sun City, Arizona
2001-2003 Radiation Safety Officer/Safety Officer,
Harrington Research Center, Phoenix,
Arizona
2003-present Staff Scientist (Assistant), Department of
Neurology, Barrow Neurological Institute and Arizona Alzheimer's
Disease Consortium, St. Josephs' Hospital & Medical Center,
Phoenix
Advisory Boards
and Review
Committees:
2000-present Ad
hoc reviewer for the Alzheimer's
Association
2001-present Member, Internal Scientific Advisory Committee,
Arizona Alzheimer's Disease Consortium
2003-present Mesa Community College Biotechnology Steering
Committee
2004-present Member, St. Joseph's Hospital Institutional
Review Board for Research Involving Human
Subjects
2005-present Member, St. Joseph's Hospital Human Specimen
Procurement Service Committee
2005 Reviewer, Experimental Neurology
Honors:
1993-1994 Psi Chi Chapter Charter Member, Chapter
Vice-President, Minnesota State University
1994 Magna Cum Laude, Minnesota State
University
1994-present Member, Phi Kappa Phi
2006-2008 NIH Extramural Clinical Loan Repayment Program
Participant: "Peripheral mitochondrial function correlates to mtDNA
defects in Alzheimer's and MCI"
Current Research
Support:
Barrow Neurological
Foundation
Valla J
(PI)
7/1/03 -
Research Program Funding
The major goals are to provide important information about the
understanding, early detection, tracking, and diagnosis of AD and
assist in the discovery of innovative treatments for this disorder
by further characterizing dysfunctional energy production in
patients, persons at risk for the disorder, and promising
laboratory models of AD.
Role: Principal Investigator
Arizona Alzheimer's Research
Center
Reiman EM
(PI)
10/1/99 - present
Continuing Legislative Appropriation,
Arizona
The major goals of this program are to establish a laboratory
without walls consisting of seven research institutions in Arizona,
to establish a first-rate brain imaging research program, and to
capitalize on the state's resources in brain imaging, computer
science, and the behavioral neurosciences in the scientific effort
to understand, treat, and prevent Alzheimer's
disease.
Role: Neuroscientist; ex vivo animal brain imaging, metabolic brain
mapping, anatomic densitometry, and histochemistry in transgenic
and nontransgenic disease models.
Barrow Women's
Board
Valla J
(PI) 7/1/2005
Glial Cell Gene Expression in Alzheimer's
Disease
The major goals of this project are to examine laser
capture-microdissected astroglial gene expression in postmortem
samples from relevant brain regions in patients with AD, aged
controls, subjects with mild cognitive impairment, and patients
with other, non-AD dementias. This project will yield candidate
genes that will be subjected to further validation using
independent samples.
Role: Principal Investigator
Past Research
Support:
AARC/AADC Pilot
Grant Valla
J
(PI)
7/1/02 - 6/30/05
Arizona Alzheimer's Research Center
Detection and characterization of peripheral mitochondrial energy
deficits in Alzheimer's patients, mildly cognitively impaired
subjects, and controls
The major goals of this study are to detect and measure blood cell
mitochondrial enzyme deficiencies in AD and MCI and correlate such
with dementia ratings and functional
assessments.
Role: Principal Investigator
Arizona ADCC Pilot
Grant
Coon K
(PI)
7/1/03 - 6/30/05
Arizona Alzheimer's Clinical Center (NIA)
Peripheral mitochondrial DNA defects and function in
AD
The major goals of this project are to extract and sequence
mitochondrial DNA from peripheral blood cells and assess
mitochondrial enzyme function in subjects with and without AD or
MCI and carriers or noncarriers of the APOE4
allele.
Role: Co-Investigator; mitochondrial isolation, enzyme function
assays.
Publications:
1. Gonzalez-Lima, F., J. Valla and S. Matos-Collazo.
Quantitative cytochemistry of cytochrome oxidase and cellular
morphometry of the human inferior colliculus in control and
Alzheimer's patients. Brain Research 752, 117-126,
1997.
2. Gonzalez-Lima, F., J. Valla, and A. Cada. Brain cytochrome
oxidase activity and how it relates to the pathophysiology of
memory and Alzheimer's disease. In T. Ozben (Ed.), Free
Radicals, Oxidative Stress and Antioxidants: Pathological and
Physiological Significance. NATO ASI Series A Vol. 296, New
York: Plenum Press, 1998, pp.
205-227.
3. Gonzalez-Lima, F., J. Valla and L. Jorandby.
Cytochrome oxidase inhibition in Alzheimer's disease. In
Gonzalez-Lima, F. (Ed.) Cytochrome Oxidase in Neuronal Metabolism
and Alzheimer's Disease. Plenum, New York, 1998, pp.
171-201.
4. Valla, J., J.L. Humm, T. Schallert, and F. Gonzalez-Lima.
Metabolic activation of the subependymal zone after cortical
injury. NeuroReport 10, 1-4, 1999.
5. Gonzalez-Lima, F., J.D. Berndt, J. Valla, D. Games, and
E.M. Reiman. Reduced corpus callosum, fornix and hippocampus in
PDAPP transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer's disease. NeuroReport
12, 2375-2379, 2001.
6. Valla, J., J.D. Berndt, and F. Gonzalez-Lima. Energy
hypometabolism in posterior cingulate cortex of Alzheimer's
patients: superficial laminar cytochrome oxidase associated with
disease duration. Journal of Neuroscience 21, 4923-4930,
2001.
7. Liang, Z., J. Valla, S. Sefidvash-Hockley, J. Rogers, and
R. Li. Effects of estrogen treatment on glutamate uptake in
cultured human astrocytes derived from cortex of Alzheimer's
disease patients, Journal of Neurochemistry 80, 807-814,
2002.
8. Valla, J., K. Chen, J.D. Berndt, F. Gonzalez-Lima, S.R.
Cherry, D. Games, and E.M. Reiman. Effects of image resolution on
autoradiographic measurements of posterior cingulate activity in
PDAPP mice: Implications for functional brain imaging studies of
transgenic mouse models of Alzheimer's disease, NeuroImage 16, 1-6,
2002.
9. Lin, L., K. Chen, J. Valla, J. He, E.M. Reiman, J.-P.
Galons, B. Hauss-Wegrzyniak, G.E. Alexander. MRI template and atlas
toolbox for the C57BL/6J mouse brain. Proceedings of the 2nd
International IEEE EMBS Conference on Neural Engineering,
6-8, 2005.
10. Valla, J., L.E. Schneider, F. Gonzalez-Lima, E.M. Reiman.
Nonprogressive transgene-related callosal and hippocampal changes
in PDAPP mice. Neuroreport 17, 829-832,
2006.
11. Valla, J., L.E. Schneider, E.M. Reiman. Age and
transgene-related changes in regional cerebral metabolism in PSAPP
mice. Brain Research 1116, 194-200, 2006.
12. Coon KD, Valla J, Szelinger S, Schneider LE, Niedzielko
TL, Brown KM, Pearson JV, Halperin R, Dunckley T, Stafford P,
Papassotiropoulos A, Caselli RJ, Reiman EM, Stephan DA.
Quantitation of heteroplasmy of mtDNA sequence variants identified
in a population of AD patients and controls by array-based
resequencing. Mitochondrion 6, 194-210,
2006.
13. Valla, J., L. Schneider, T. Niedzielko, K.D. Coon, R.
Caselli, M.N. Sabbagh, G.L. Ahern, L. Baxter, G. Alexander, D.G.
Walker, E.M. Reiman. Impaired platelet mitochondrial activity in
Alzheimer's disease and mild cognitive impairment. Mitochondrion 6,
323-330, 2006.
14. Valla, J., F. Gonzalez-Lima, E.M. Reiman. Gene
dose-related changes in regional cerebral metabolism in PDAPP
transgenic mice. Submitted.
Abstracts:
1. Gonzalez-Lima, F., J. Valla and S. Matos-Collazo.
Quantitative cytochemistry of cytochrome oxidase and cellular
morphometry of the human inferior colliculus in control and
Alzheimer's patients. Society for Neuroscience Abstracts 22,
683.13, 1996.
2. Gonzalez-Lima, F., A. Cada, and J. Valla. Brain cytochrome
oxidase activity and how it relates to the pathophysiology of
memory and Alzheimer's disease. Abstracts, p. 63-64, 1997.
NATO Advanced Study Institute Co-sponsored by FEBS and UNESCO,
"Free Radicals, Oxidative Stress and Antioxidants. Pathological and
Physiological Significance", Antalya,
Turkey.
3. Valla, J., J.L. Humm, T. Schallert, and F. Gonzalez-Lima.
Cytochrome oxidase activity increases in the subependymal zone
following unilateral cortical injury. Journal of Neurotrauma 14,
182, National Neurotrauma Symposium Abstracts,
1997.
4. Gonzalez-Lima, F., J. Valla and N.L. Callaway. Diagnosis of
sporadic Alzheimer's disease using muscle cytochrome oxidase
histochemistry. Society for Neuroscience Abstracts 24, 503.10,
1998.
5. Hauss-Wegrzyniak, B., J. Valla, E.M. Reiman, and G.L. Wenk.
Stereological and functional analysis in a rat model of chronic
brain inflammation. Society for Neuroscience Abstracts 26,
2000.
6. Valla, J, J.D. Berndt, and F. Gonzalez-Lima. Cytochrome
oxidase inhibition in posterior cingulate cortex of Alzheimer's
patients: laminar analysis and correlation with disease duration.
Society for Neuroscience Abstracts 26,
2000.
7. Liang, Z., J. Valla, J. Roger, and R. Li. Effects of
estrogen treatment on glutamate uptake in cultured human astrocytes
derived from cortex of Alzheimer's disease patients. Society for
Neuroscience Abstracts 27, 2001.
8. Valla, J., K. Chen, J.D. Berndt, F. Gonzalez-Lima, S.
Cherry, D. Games, and E.M. Reiman. Feasibility of
limited-resolution, non-invasive functional brain imaging in a
transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer's disease. Society for
Neuroscience Abstracts 27, 2001.
9. Valla, J., F. Gonzalez-Lima, D. Games, and E.M. Reiman.
Further evidence of nonprogressive, neurodevelopmental white matter
changes in the PDAPP mouse model of Alzheimer's disease. Poster
presentation, Arizona Alzheimer's Research Center Annual Meeting,
2002, Scottsdale, AZ.
10. Chen, K., E.M. Reiman, T. He, J.P. Galons, G. Stevenson,
B. Hauss-Wegrzyniak, J. Valla, T.P. Trouard, G.L. Wenk, and G.E.
Alexander. Evaluation of an iterative principal component analysis
for detecting whole brain volume change in small animal magnetic
resonance imaging. Poster presentations: Alzheimer's Imaging
Consortium and 8th International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease
and Related Disorders, July 2002.
11. Hauss-Wegrzyniak, B., K. Chen, J.P. Galons, G. Stevenson,
J. Valla, G.L. Wenk, G.E. Alexander, and E.M. Reiman. Detecting an
experimentally induced reduction in mouse brain volume using
sequential high-resolution MRI's and the iterative PCA method.
Poster presentations: Alzheimer's Imaging Consortium and 8th
International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease and Related
Disorders, July 2002.
12. Valla, J., E.M. Reiman, F. Gonzalez-Lima, A. Uecker, J.D.
Berndt, K. Chen, D. Minear, N.L. Callaway, and D. Games. Effects of
age and gene dose on posterior cingulate activity in PDAPP
transgenic mice. Poster presentation: Alzheimer's Imaging
Consortium, July 2002.
13. Valla, J., L. Lewandowski, K. Duff, and E.M. Reiman. No
evidence of significant white matter disruption in the TG2576 mouse
model of Alzheimer's disease: Implications for in vivo
microimaging. Poster presentation: 8th International Conference on
Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders, July
2002.
14. Chen, K., E.M. Reiman, T. He, J.P. Galons, B.
Hauss-Wegrzyniak, G. Stevenson, J. Valla, T. Trouard, G.L. Wenk,
and G.E. Alexander. Improved iterative principal component analysis
for detecting whole brain atrophy from sequential mouse MRI's.
Society for Neuroscience Abstracts 28,
2002.
15. Lin, L., K. Chen, G.E. Alexander, J. He, J. Valla, J.P.
Galons, B. Hauss-Wegrzyniak, E.M. Reiman. Construction of mouse
brain MRI templates using SPM99. Modelling and Control in
Biomedical Systems 2003 - A proceedings volume from the 5th IFAC
Symposium, Melbourne, Australia: 113-118,
2003.
16. Valla, J., L. Schneider, P. Bendheim, D.A. Pushett, and
E.M. Reiman. Further evidence of white matter disruption in
transgenic mouse models of Alzheimer's disease. Society for
Neuroscience Abstracts 29, 2003.
17. Valla J., L. Schneider, and E.M. Reiman. Metabolic mapping
of cytochrome oxidase activity demonstrates abnormalities in
learning/memory circuits in PSAPP double-transgenic mice. Poster
presentation: 9th International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease
and Related Disorders and the Alzheimer's Imaging Consortium, July
2004.
18. Schneider, L., J. Valla, and E.M. Reiman. Metabolic
mapping of glucose uptake in PSAPP mouse model of AD: Sensorimotor
hyperarousal correlated with auditory amyloid pathology. Poster
presentation: 9th International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease
and Related Disorders and the Alzheimer's Imaging Consortium, July
2004.
19. Niedzielko, T., L. Schneider, and J. Valla. Measuring
electron transport chain function in patients with AD:
Methodological considerations. Poster presentation: 9th
International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease and Related
Disorders, July 2004.
20. Lin L., K. Chen, E.M. Reiman, T. He, J. Valla, J. He, J-P.
Galons, C. Hicks, T. Trouard, B. Hauss-Wegrzyniak, G. Alexander.
Template-based region of interest strategies for measuring
ventricular volume in mouse brain MR images: Empirical validation
with pharmaceutical-induced ventricular increases. Poster
presentation: 9th International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease
and Related Disorders and the Alzheimer's Imaging Consortium, July
2004.
21. He T., K. Chen, E.M. Reiman, J. Valla, J-P. Galons, C.
Hicks, T. Trouard, B. Hauss-Wegrzyniak, G. Alexander. The
computation of mannitol-induced changes in mouse brain volume using
sequential MRI and an iterative principal component analysis.
Poster presentation: 9th International Conference on Alzheimer's
Disease and Related Disorders and the Alzheimer's Imaging
Consortium, July 2004.
22. Valla, J., L. Schneider, E.M. Reiman. Regional cerebral
metabolism in PSAPP double-transgenic mice changes with age and
genotype. Poster presentation: Alzheimer's Association
International Conference on Prevention of Dementia, June
2005.
23. Valla, J., L. Schneider, F. Gonzalez-Lima, E.M. Reiman.
Early nonprogressive callosal and hippocampal changes in PDAPP mice
correspond to transgene dose. Society for Neuroscience Abstracts
31, 2005.
24. Schneider, L., J. Valla, E.M. Reiman. Progressive and
age-independent changes in glucose uptake in PSAPP model of AD.
Society for Neuroscience Abstracts 31,
2005.
25. Niedzielko, T., L. Schneider, J. Valla. How should
investigators deal with differential fragility of diseased
mitochondria? Society for Neuroscience Abstracts 31,
2005.
26. Schneider L, Niedzielko T, Valla J. New methodology and a
call for sharing empirical assessments of ETC assay diversity.
United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation Symposium, June
2006.
27. Valla J, Schneider L, Niedzielko T. Identification of a
novel platelet complex III deficit in Alzheimer's disease and mild
cognitive impairment. United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation
Symposium, platform presentation, June 2006.
Invited
Talks:
1. Valla, J. and F. Gonzalez-Lima. Neuronal cytoarchitecture
and differential vulnerability in Alzheimer's disease. Invited talk
by J. Valla, presented at the 4th Annual University of Texas
Symposium on Neuroscience, Austin, TX, April
1999.
2. Valla, J. Evaluating animal models of Alzheimer's disease
with metabolic brain mapping: fluorodeoxyglucose autoradiography
and quantitative cytochrome oxidase histochemistry. Presented to
the Arizona Alzheimer's Research Center, Phoenix, AZ, September
2000.
3. Valla, J. Mitochondrial dysfunction in the pathogenesis of
Alzheimer's disease. Neurology Grand Rounds, Mayo Clinic
Scottsdale, July 2003.
4. Valla, J. Sum of it all: Mapping energy use and demand in
the brain. Barrow Neurological Institute Neuroscience Conference,
February 2005.
5. Valla, J. Mitochondrial dysfunction in the pathogenesis of
Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's Disease and Cognitive Disorders
Seminar, Barrow Neurological Institute, March
2005.
6. Valla, J. Identifying Mitochondrial-centric Targets for
Alzheimer's Disease Intervention. Barrow Neurological Institute
Neuroscience Conference, May 2006.
Professional
Memberships:
1996-present Society
for Neuroscience
1998-present American Association for the Advancement of
Science
2001-present Mitochondria Research
Society
2005-present New York Academy of Sciences
Professional
Activity:
Recent Advances in Alzheimer's Disease Research Symposium,
University of Texas, April 1995
University of Texas Symposium on Neuroscience, December 1995, March
1997, April 1998, April 1999
National Neurotrauma Annual Symposium, October
1997
United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation Symposium, June 2002, June
2006
Alzheimer's Imaging Consortium, July 2000, July 2002, July
2004
Society for Neuroscience Annual Convention,
1996-2005
International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease and Related
Disorders, July 2000, July 2002, July 2004
Alzheimer's Association International Conference on the Prevention
of Dementia, June 2005
