Randall Woltjer, MD, PhD

Associate Professor

Director, Neuropathology Core of the Layton Aging & Alzheimer’s Disease Center

Clinical Services

Neuropathology

Education

MD, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, 1994

PhD (Biochemistry), Vanderbilt University, 1992

MA (English), Michigan State University, 1986

BS (Physics), Calvin College, 1985

Training

Pathology Residency, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, 1994-1997

Research Fellow, Department of Pathology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, 1997-2000

Neuropathology Fellow, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, 2000-2002

Fellow, OHSU Human Investigations Program, 2008-2009

Board Certifications

Neuropathology, 2005 Anatomic & Clinical Pathology, 2000

Interests

Neuropathology, Autopsy Pathology of Neurodegenerative Diseases.

Biochemical Pathology of Neurodegenerative Diseases such as Alzheimer's disease; Biochemical Characteristics of Normal Aging.

Publications

Abner EL, Schmitt FA, Nelson PT, Lou W, Wan L, Gauriglia R, Dodge HH, Woltjer RL, Yu L, Bennett DA, Schneider JA, Chen R, Masaki K, Katz MJ, Lipton RB, Dickson DW, Lim KO, Hemmy LS, Cairns NJ, Grant E, Tyas SL, Xiong C, Fardo DW, Kryscio RJ.The Statistical Modeling of Aging and Risk of Transition Project: Data Collection and Harmonization Across 11 Longitudinal Cohort Studies of Aging, Cognition, and Dementia.Obs Stud. 2015 Mar.

Osterberg VR, Spinelli KJ, Weston LJ, Luk KC, Woltjer RL, Unni VK. Progressive aggregation of alpha-synuclein and selective degeneration of lewy inclusion-bearing neurons in a mouse model of parkinsonism. Cell Rep. 2015 Mar 3;10(8):1252-60. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2015.01.060. Epub 2015 Feb 26.

Kruer, M.C., Hoeftberger, R., Lim, K.Y., Coryell, J.C., Svoboda, M.D., Woltjer, R.L., and Dalmau, J. Aggressive course in encephalitis with opsoclonus, ataxia, chorea, and seizures: the first pediatric case of gamma-aminobutyric acid type B receptor autoimmunity. JAMA Neurol., 71:620-2, 2014.

Thompson, E.M., Strong, M.J., Warren, G., Woltjer, R.L., and Selden, N.R. Clinical significance of imaging and histological characteristics of filum terminale in tethered cord syndrome. J. Neurosurg. Pediatr., 13:255-9, 2014.

Lobo, M.R., Green, S.C., Schabel, M.C., Gillespie, G.Y., Woltjer, R.L., and Pike, M.M. Quinacrine synergistically enhances the antivascular and antitumor efficacy of cediranib in intracranial mouse glioma. Neuro Oncol., 15:1673-83, 2013.

Erten-Lyons, D., Woltjer, R., Kaye, J., Mattek, N., Dodge, H.H., Green, S., Tran, H., Howieson, D.B., Wild, K., and Silbert, L.C., Neuropathologic basis of white matter hyperintensity accumulation with advanced age. Neurology 81:977-83, 2013.

Kruer, M.C., Jepperson, T., Dutta, S., Steiner, R.D., Cottenie, E., Sanford, L., Merkens, M., Russman, B.S., Blasco, P.A., Fan, G., Pollock, J., Green, S., Woltjer, R.L., Mooney, C., Ketzschmar, D., Paisan-Ruiz, C., and Houlden, H. Mutations in gamma adducin are associated with inherited cerebral palsy. Ann. Neurol., 81:977-83, 2013.

Miyshita, A. et al., SORL1 is genetically associated with late-onset Alzheimer's disease in Japanese, Koreans, and Caucasians. PLoS One, 8:e58618, 2013.

Miller, J.A., Woltjer, R.L., Goodenbour, J.M., Horvath, S., and Geschwind, D.H. Genes and pathways underlying regional and cell type changes in Alzheimer's disease. Genome Med., in press.

Reitz, C., et al. Variants in the ATP-binding cassette transporter (ABCA7), apolipoprotein E e4, and the risk of late-onset Alzheimer disease in African Americans. JAMA 309:1483-92, 2013.

Erten-Lyons, D., Dodge, H.H., Woltjer, R., Silbert, L.C., Howieson, D.B., Kramer, P., and Kaye, J.A. Neuropathologic basis of age-associated brain atrophy. JAMA Neurol., 70:616-22, 2013.

Scimemi, A., Meabon, J.S., Woltjer, R.L., Sullivan, J.M., Diamond, J.S., Cook, D.G. Amyloid beta 1-42 slows clearance of synaptically released glutamate by mislocalizing astrocytic GLT-1. J. Neurosci., 33:5312-8, 2013.

Tsaung, D., Leverenz, J.B., Lopez, O.L., Hamilton, R.L., Bennett, D.A., Schneider, J.A., Buchman, A.S., Larson, E.B., Crane, P.K., Kaye, J.A., Kramer, P., Woltjer, R., Trojanowski, J.Q., Wintraub, D., Chen-Plotkin, A.S., Irwin, D.J., Rick, J., Schellenberg, G.D., Watson, G.S., Kukull, W., Nelson, P.T., Jicha, G.A., Neltner, J.H., Galasko, D., Masliah, E., Quinn, J.F., Chung, K.A., Yearout, D., Mata, I.F., Wan, J.Y., Edwards, K.L., Montine, T.J., and Zabetian, C.P. APOE e4 increases risk for dementia in pure synucleinopathies. JAMA Neurol. 70:223-8, 2013.

Holton, P. et al., Initial assessment of the pathogenic mechanisms of the recently identified Alzheimer risk loci. Ann. Hum. Genet., 77:85-105, 2013.

Hogarth, P., Gregory, A., Kruer, M.C., Sanford, L., Wagoner, W., Natowicz, M.R., Egel, R.T., Subramony, S.H., Goldman, J.G., Berry-Kravis, E., Foulds, N.C., Hammans, S.R., Desguerre, I., Rodriguez, D., Wilson, C., Diedrich, A., Green, S., Tran, H., Reese, L., Woltjer, R.L., and Hayflick, S.J. A new form of neurodegeneration with brain iron accumulation: features associated with MPAN. Neurology, 80:268-75, 2013.

Garg, N., Woltjer, R., Hamilton, B., Neuwelt, E.A., and Rosenbaum, J.T. A 67-year-old woman receiving tumor necrosis factor alpha inhibitor therapy presenting with neurologic dysfunction. Arthritis Care Res. (Hoboken) 65:658-65, 2013.

Tsuang, D., Leverenz, J.B., Lopez, O.L., Hamilton, R.L., Bennett, D.A., Schneider, J.A., Buchman, A.S., Larson, E.B., Crane, P.K., Kaye, J.A., Kramer, P., Woltjer, R., Kukull, W., Nelson, P.T., Jicha, G.A., Neltner, J.H., Galasko, D., Masliah, E., Trojanowski, J.Q., Schellenberg, G.D., Yearout, D., Huston, H., Frittz-Penniman, A., Mata, I.F., Wan, J.Y., Edwards, K.L., Montine, T.J, and Zabetian, C.P. GBA mutations increase risk for Lewy body disease with and without Alzheimer disease pathology. Neurology, 79:1944-50, 2012.

Whitcomb, D.C. et al. Common genetic variants in the CLDN2 and PRSS1-PRSS2 loci alter risk for alcohol-related and sporadic pancreatitis. Nat. Genet. 44:1349-54, 2012.

Erten-Lyons, D., Sherbakov, L.O., Piccinin, A.M., Hofer, S.M., Dodge, H.H., Quinn, J.F., Woltjer, R.L., Kramer, P.L., and Kaye, J.A. Alzheimers Dement. 8:584-9, 2012.

Jun, G. et al. Comprehensive search for Alzheimer disease susceptibility loci in the APOE region. Arch. Neurol. 69:1270-9, 2012.

Agarwal, A., Fleischman, A.G., Petersen, C.L., Mackenzie, R., Luty, S., Loriaux, M., Druker, B.J., Woltjer, R.L., and Deininger, M.W. Effects of plerixafor in combination with BCR-ABL kinase inhibition in a murine model of CML. Blood, 120:2658-68, 2012.

Silbert, L.C., Dodge, H.H., Perkins, L.G., Sherbakov, L., Lahna, D., Erten-Lyons, D., Woltjer, R., Shinto, L., and Kaye, J.A. Trajectory of white matter hyperintensity burden preceding mild cognitive impairment. Neurology, 79:741-7, 2012.

Zou, F., et al. Brain expression genome-wide association study (eGWAS) identifies human disease-associated variants. PLoS Genet., e1002707, 2012.

Bjorklund, N.S., Reese, L.C., Sadagoparamanujam, V.M., Ghirardi, V., Woltjer, R.L., and Taglialatela, G. Absence of amyloid beta oligomers at the postsynapse and regulated synaptic Zn2+ in cognitively intact aged individuals with Alzheimer's disease neuropathology. Mol. Neurodegener. 7:23, 2012.

Nelson, P.T., Alafuzoff, I., Bigio, E.H., Bouras, C., Braak, H., Cairns, N.J., Castellani, R.J., Crain, B.J., Davies, P., Tredici, K.D., Duyckaerts, C., Frosch, M.P., Haroutunian, V., Hof, P.R., Hulette, C.M., Human, B.T., Iwatsubo, T., Jellinger, K.A., Jicha, G.A., Koervari, E., Kukull, W.A., Leverenz., J.B., Love, S., Mackenzie, I.R., mann, D.M., Masliah, E., McKee, A.C., Montine, T.J., Morris, J.C., Schneider, J.A., Sonnen, J.A., Thal, D.R., Trojanowski, J.Q., Troncoso, J.C., Wisniewski, T., Woltjer, R.L., and Beach, T.G. Correlaton of Alzheimer disease neuropathologic changes with cognitive status: a review of the literature. J. Neuropathol. Exp. Neurol., 71:362-81, 2012.

Gagyi, E., Kormos, B., Castellanos,K.J., Valyi-Nagy, K., Korneff, D., Lopresti, P., Woltjer, R., and Vali-Nagy, T. Decreased oligodendrocyte nuclear diameter in Alzheimer's disease and Lewy body dementia. Brain Pathol. 22:03-10, 2012.

Maarouf, C.L., Daugs, I.D., Kokjohn, T.A., Walker, D.G., Hunter, J.M., Kruchowsky, J.C., Woltjer, R., Kaye, J., Castano, E.M., Sabbagh, M.N., Beach, T.G., and Roher, A E. Alzheimer's disease and non-demented high pathology control nonagenarians: comparing and contrasting the biochemistry of cognitively successful aging. PLoS One, e27291, 2011.

Reese, L.C., Laezza, F., Woltjer, R., and Taglialatela, G. Dysregulated phosphorylation of Ca(2+)/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II-a in the hippocampus of subjects with mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease. J. Neurochem., 119: 791-804, 2011.

Sonnen, J.A., Santa Cruz, K., Hemmy, L.S., Woltjer, R., Leverenz, J.B., Montine, K.S., Jack, C.R., Kaye, J., Lim, K., Larson, E.B., White, L., and Montine, T.J. Ecology of the aging human brain. Arch. Neurol. 68:1049-56, 2011.

La Maestra, S., Kisby, G.E., Micale, R.T., Johnson, J., Kow, Y.W., Bao, G., Sheppard, C., Stanfield, S., Tran, H., Woltjer, R.L., D'Agostini, F., Steele, V.E., and De Flora, S. Cigarette smoke induces DNA damage and alters base-excision repair and tau levels in the brain of neonatal mice. Toxicol. Sci., 123:471-9. 2011.

Copenhaver, P.F., Anekonda, T.S., Musashe, D., Robinson, K.M., Ramaker, J.M., Swanson, T.L., Wadsworth, T.L., Kretzschmar, D., Woltjer, R.L., and Quinn, J.F. A translational continuum of model systems for evaluating treatment strategies in Alzheimer's disease: isradipine as a candidate drug. Dis. Model Mech. 4:634-48, 2011.

Chen-Plotkin, A.S. et al., Genetic and clinical features of progranulin-associated frontotemporal lobar degeneration. Arch. Neurol. 68:488-97, 2011.

Naj, A.C. et al. Common variatnts at MS4A4/MS4A6E, CD2AP, CD33 and EPHA1 are associated with late-onset Alzheimer's disease. Nat. Genet. 43:436-41, 2011.

Kruer, M.C., Hiken, M., Gregory, A., Malandrini, A., Clark, D., Hogarth, P., Grafe, M., Hayflick, S.J., and Woltjer, R.L. Novel histopathologic findings in molecularly-confirmed pantothenate kinase-associated neurodegeneration. Brain 134:947-58, 2011.

Anekonda, T.S., Wadsworth, T.L., Sabin, R., Frahler, K., Harris, C., Petriko, B., Ralle, M., Woltjer, R., and Quinn, J.F. Phytic acid as a potential treatment for Alzheimer's pathology: evidence from animal and in vitro models. J. Alzheimers Dis. 23:21-35, 2011.

Anekonda, T., Quinn, J.F., Harris, C., Frahler, K., Wadsworth, T.L., and Woltjer, R.L. L-type voltage-gated calcium channel blockade with isradipine as a therapeutic strategy for Alzheimer's disease. Neurobiol. Dis. 41:62-70, 2011.

Jun, G. et al. Meta-analysis confirms CR1, CLU, and PICALM as Alzheimer disease risk loci and reveals interactions with APOE genotypes. Arch. Neurol., 67:1473-84, 2010.

Kruer, M.C., Paisán-Ruiz, C., Boddaert, N., Yoon, M.Y., Hama, H., Gregory, A., Malandrini, A., Woltjer, R.L., Munnich, A., Gobin, S., Polster, B.J., Palmeri, S., Edvardson, S., Hardy, J., Houlden, H., and Hayflick, S.J. Defective FA2H leads to a novel form of neurodegeneration with brain iron accumulation (NBIA). Ann. Neurol. 68:611-8, 2010.

Woltjer, R.L., Duerson, K., Fullmer, J.M., Mookherjee, P., Ryan, A.M., Montine, T.J., Kaye, J.A., Quinn, J.F., Silbert, L., Erten-Lyons, D., Leverenz, J.B., Bird, T.D., Pow, D.V., Tanaka, K., Watson, G.S., and Cook, D.G. Aberrant detergent-insoluble excitatory amino acid transporter 2 accumulates in Alzheimer disease. J. Neuropathol. Exp. Neurol. 69:667-76, 2010.

Van Deerlin, V.M., et al. Common variants at 7p21 are associated with frontotemporal lobar degeneration with TDP-43 inclusions. Nature Genetics, 42:234-9, 2010.

Kruer, M., Koch, T., Bourdette, D., Chabas, D., Waubant, E., Mueller, S., Moscarello, M.A., Dalmau, J., Woltjer, R.L., and Adamus, G., NMDA receptor encephalitis mimicking seronegative neuromyelitis optica. Neurology, 74:1473-5, 2010.

Yu, C.E., Bird, T.D., Bekris, L.M., Montine, T.J., Leverenz, J.B., Steinbart, E., Galloway, N.M., Feldman, H., Woltjer, R., Miller, C.A., Wood, E.M., Gorssman, M., McCluskey, L., Clark, C.M., Neumann, M., Danek, A., Galasko, D.R., Arnold, S.E., Chen-Plotkin, A., Karydas, A., Miller, B.L., Trojanowski, J.Q., Lee, V. M., Schellenberg, G.D., and Van Deerlin, V.M. The spectrum of mutations in progranulin: a collaborative study screening 545 cases of neurodegeneration. Arch. Neurol., 67:161-70, 2010.