Rebecca A Betensky
Rebecca Betensky
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Chair of the Department of Biostatistics
Professor of Biostatistics
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Professional overview
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Prior to NYU, Dr. Betensky was Professor of Biostatistics at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She was director of the Harvard Catalyst (Clinical and Translational Science Award) Biostatistics Program; director of the Data and Statistics Core for the Massachusetts Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center; and director of the Biostatistics Neurology Core at Massachusetts General Hospital. Previously, she was the Biostatistics Program Leader for the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center.
Dr. Betensky’s research focuses on methods for the analysis of censored and truncated outcomes and covariates, which frequently arise from the subsampling of cohort studies. She has a long-time interest in clinical trials, and has written on the evaluation of biomarkers and the use and interpretation of p-values. She has collaborated extensively in studies in neurologic diseases, and serves as statistical editor for Annals of Neurology.
Dr. Betensky was awarded, and directed for 15 years, an NIH T32 training program in neurostatistics and neuroepidemiology for pre- and post-doctoral students in biostatistics and epidemiology and for clinician-scientists. She previously directed Harvard’s Biostatistics programs to promote and support diversity at all levels in the field of quantitative public health. She was also a member of the BMRD Study Section for review of NIH statistical methodology grants; on committees for the Institute of Medicine; and a co-chair of the technical advisory committee for the scientific registry of transplant recipients.
Dr. Betensky an elected Fellow of the American Statistical Association and of the International Statistical Institute, and is a past recipient of the Spiegelman Award from the American Public Health Association. She currently serves as a member of the Board of Scientific Counselors for Clinical Science and Epidemiology at the National Cancer Institute.
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Education
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AB, Mathematics, Harvard University, Cambridge, MAPhD, Statistics, Stanford University, Stanford, CA
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Areas of research and study
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BiologyBiostatisticsNeuroepidemiologyNeurologyNeurostatisticsTranslational science
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Publications
Publications
Assessing Population Level Genetic Instability via Moving Average
AbstractMcDaniel, S., Minnier, J., Betensky, R., Mohapatra, G., Shen, Y., Gusella, J. F., Louis, D. N., & Cai, T. (n.d.).Publication year
2010Journal title
Statistics in BiosciencesVolume
2Issue
2Page(s)
120-136AbstractTumoral tissues tend to generally exhibit aberrations in DNA copy number that are associated with the development and progression of cancer. Genotyping methods such as array-based comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH) provide means to identify copy number variation across the entire genome. To address some of the shortfalls of existing methods of DNA copy number data analysis, including strong model assumptions, lack of accounting for sampling variability of estimators, and the assumption that clones are independent, we propose a simple graphical approach to assess population-level genetic alterations over the entire genome based on moving average. Furthermore, existing methods primarily focus on segmentation and do not examine the association of covariates with genetic instability. In our methods, covariates are incorporated through a possibly mis-specified working model and sampling variabilities of estimators are approximated using a resampling method that is based on perturbing observed processes. Our proposal, which is applicable to partial, entire or multiple chromosomes, is illustrated through application to aCGH studies of two brain tumor types, meningioma and glioma.Association between lower body temperature and increased tau pathology in cognitively normal older adults
AbstractBlessing, E. M., Parekh, A., Betensky, R., Babb, J., Saba, N., Debure, L., Varga, A. W., Ayappa, I., Rapoport, D. M., Butler, T. A., de Leon, M. J., Wisniewski, T., Lopresti, B. J., & Osorio, R. S. (n.d.).Publication year
2022Journal title
Neurobiology of DiseaseVolume
171AbstractBackground: Preclinical studies suggest body temperature (Tb) and consequently brain temperature has the potential to bidirectionally interact with tau pathology in Alzheimer's Disease (AD). Tau phosphorylation is substantially increased by a small (Association between lower body temperature and increased tau pathology in cognitively normal older adults
AbstractBetensky, R., Blessing, E. M., Parekh, A., Betensky, R. A., Babb, J., Saba, N., Debure, L., Varga, A. W., Ayappa, I., Rapoport, D. M., Butler, T. A., de Leon, M. J., Wisniewski, T., Lopresti, B. J., & Osorio, R. S. (n.d.).Publication year
2022Journal title
Neurobiology of diseaseVolume
171Page(s)
105748AbstractPreclinical studies suggest body temperature (Tb) and consequently brain temperature has the potential to bidirectionally interact with tau pathology in Alzheimer's Disease (AD). Tau phosphorylation is substantially increased by a small (Association of Amyloid and Tau with Cognition in Preclinical Alzheimer Disease : A Longitudinal Study
AbstractHanseeuw, B. J., Betensky, R., Jacobs, H. I., Schultz, A. P., Sepulcre, J., Becker, J. A., Cosio, D. M., Farrell, M., Quiroz, Y. T., Mormino, E. C., Buckley, R. F., Papp, K. V., Amariglio, R. A., Dewachter, I., Ivanoiu, A., Huijbers, W., Hedden, T., Marshall, G. A., Chhatwal, J. P., … Johnson, K. (n.d.).Publication year
2019Journal title
JAMA NeurologyVolume
76Issue
8Page(s)
915-924AbstractImportance: Positron emission tomography (PET) imaging now allows in vivo visualization of both neuropathologic hallmarks of Alzheimer disease (AD): amyloid-β (Aβ) plaques and tau neurofibrillary tangles. Observing their progressive accumulation in the brains of clinically normal older adults is critically important to understand the pathophysiologic cascade leading to AD and to inform the choice of outcome measures in prevention trials. Objective: To assess the associations among Aβ, tau, and cognition, measured during different observation periods for 7 years. Design, Setting, and Participants: Prospective cohort study conducted between 2010 and 2017 at the Harvard Aging Brain Study, Boston, Massachusetts. The study enrolled 279 clinically normal participants. An additional 90 individuals were approached but declined the study or did not meet the inclusion criteria. In this report, we analyzed data from 60 participants who had multiple Aβ and tau PET observations available on October 31, 2017. Main Outcomes and Measures: A median of 3 Pittsburgh compound B-PET (Aβ, 2010-2017) and 2 flortaucipir-PET (tau, 2013-2017) images were collected. We used initial PET and slope data, assessing the rates of change in Aβ and tau, to measure cognitive changes. Cognition was evaluated annually using the Preclinical Alzheimer Cognitive Composite (2010-2017). Annual consensus meetings evaluated progression to mild cognitive impairment. Results: Of the 60 participants, 35 were women (58%) and 25 were men (42%); median age at inclusion was 73 years (range, 65-85 years). Seventeen participants (28%) exhibited an initial high Aβ burden. An antecedent rise in Aβ was associated with subsequent changes in tau (1.07 flortaucipir standardized uptake value ratios [SUVr]/PiB-SUVr; 95% CI, 0.13-3.46; P =.02). Tau changes were associated with cognitive changes (-3.28 z scores/SUVR; 95% CI, -6.67 to -0.91; P =.001), covarying baseline Aβ and tau. Tau changes were greater in the participants who progressed to mild cognitive impairment (n = 6) than in those who did not (n = 11; 0.05 SUVr per year; 95% CI, 0.03-0.07; P =.001). A serial mediation model demonstrated that the association between initial Aβ and final cognition, measured 7 years later, was mediated by successive changes in Aβ and tau. Conclusions and Relevance: We identified sequential changes in normal older adults, from Aβ to tau to cognition, after which the participants with high Aβ with greater tau increase met clinical criteria for mild cognitive impairment. These findings highlight the importance of repeated tau-PET observations to track disease progression and the importance of repeated amyloid-PET observations to detect the earliest AD pathologic changes.Association of anxiety with subcortical amyloidosis in cognitively normal older adults
AbstractHanseeuw, B. J., Jonas, V., Jackson, J., Betensky, R., Rentz, D. M., Johnson, K. A., Sperling, R. A., & Donovan, N. J. (n.d.).Publication year
2020Journal title
Molecular PsychiatryVolume
25Issue
10Page(s)
2599-2607AbstractLate-life anxiety has been associated with increased progression from normal cognition to amnestic MCI, suggesting that anxiety may be a neuropsychiatric symptom of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) pathological changes and a possible marker of anatomical progression in preclinical AD. This study examined whether cortical or subcortical amyloidosis, indicating earlier or later stages of preclinical AD, was associated with greater self-reported anxiety among 118 cognitively normal volunteers, aged 65–90 years, and whether this association was stronger in APOEε4 carriers. Participants underwent Pittsburgh Compound B Positron Emission Tomography (PiB-PET) to assess fibrillar amyloid-β burden in cortical and subcortical regions, and measurement of anxiety using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale-anxiety subscale. Higher PiB-PET measures in the subcortex (striatum, amygdala, and thalamus), but not in the cortex, were associated with greater anxiety, adjusting for demographics, cognition, and depression. Findings were similar using a cortico-striatal staging system and continuous PET measurements. Anxiety was highest in APOEε4 carriers with subcortical amyloidosis. This work supports in vivo staging of amyloid-β deposition in both cortical and subcortical regions as a promising approach to the study of neuropsychiatric symptoms such as anxiety in cognitively normal older individuals. Elevated anxiety symptoms in combination with high-risk biological factors such as APOEε4 and subcortical amyloid-β may identify participants closest to MCI for secondary prevention trials.Association of APOE Genotype With Heterogeneity of Cognitive Decline Rate in Alzheimer Disease
AbstractQian, J., Betensky, R., Hyman, B. T., & Serrano-Pozo, A. (n.d.).Publication year
2021Journal title
NeurologyVolume
96Issue
19Page(s)
e2414-e2428AbstractOBJECTIVE: To test the hypothesis that the APOE genotype is a significant driver of heterogeneity in Alzheimer disease (AD) clinical progression, which could have important implications for clinical trial design and interpretation. METHODS: We applied novel reverse-time longitudinal models to analyze the trajectories of Clinical Dementia Rating Sum of Boxes (CDR-SOB) and Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores-2 common outcome measures in AD clinical trials-in 1,102 autopsy-proven AD cases (moderate/frequent neuritic plaques and Braak tangle stage III or greater) from the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center Neuropathology database resembling participants with mild to moderate AD in therapeutic clinical trials. RESULTS: APOE ε4 carriers exhibited ≈1.5 times faster CDR-SOB increase than APOE ε3/ε3 carriers (2.12 points per year vs 1.44 points per year) and ≈1.3 times faster increase than APOE ε2 carriers (1.65 points per year), whereas APOE ε2 vs APOE ε3/ε3 difference was not statistically significant. APOE ε4 carriers had ≈1.1 times faster MMSE decline than APOE ε3/ε3 carriers (-3.45 vs -3.03 points per year) and ≈1.4 times faster decline than APOE ε2 carriers (-2.43 points per year), whereas APOE ε2 carriers had ≈1.2 times slower decline than APOE ε3/ε3 carriers (-2.43 vs -3.03 points per year). These findings remained largely unchanged after controlling for the effect of AD neuropathologic changes on the rate of cognitive decline and for the presence and severity of comorbid pathologies. CONCLUSION: Compared to the APOE ε3/ε3 reference genotype, the APOE ε2 and ε4 alleles have opposite (slowing and accelerating, respectively) effects on the rate of cognitive decline, which are clinically relevant and largely independent of the differential APOE allele effects on AD and comorbid pathologies. Thus, APOE genotype contributes to the heterogeneity in rate of clinical progression in AD.Association of cancer and Alzheimer's disease risk in a national cohort of veterans
AbstractFrain, L., Swanson, D., Cho, K., Gagnon, D., Lu, K. P., Betensky, R., & Driver, J. (n.d.).Publication year
2017Journal title
Alzheimer's and DementiaVolume
13Issue
12Page(s)
1364-1370AbstractIntroduction: To examine the risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD) among cancer survivors in a national database. Methods: Retrospective cohort of 3,499,378 mostly male US veterans aged ≥65 years were followed between 1996 and 2011. We used Cox models to estimate risk of AD and alternative outcomes (non-AD dementia, osteoarthritis, stroke, and macular degeneration) in veterans with and without a history of cancer. Results: Survivors of a wide variety of cancers had modestly lower AD risk, but increased risk of the alternative outcomes. Survivors of screened cancers, including prostate cancer, had a slightly increased AD risk. Cancer treatment was independently associated with decreased AD risk; those who received chemotherapy had a lower risk than those who did not. Discussion: Survivors of some cancers have a lower risk of AD but not other age-related conditions, arguing that lower AD diagnosis is not simply due to bias. Cancer treatment may be associated with decreased risk of AD.Association of PGC-1alpha polymorphisms with age of onset and risk of Parkinson's disease
AbstractClark, J., Reddy, S., Zheng, K., Betensky, R., & Simon, D. K. (n.d.).Publication year
2011Journal title
BMC Medical GeneticsVolume
12AbstractBackground: Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ co-activator (PGC)-1α is a transcriptional co-activator of antioxidant genes and a master regulator of mitochondrial biogenesis. Parkinson's disease (PD) is associated with oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction and recent work suggests a role for PGC-1α. We hypothesized that the rs8192678 PGC-1α single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) may influence risk or age of onset of PD. The A10398G mitochondrial SNP has been inversely associated with risk of PD in some studies. In the current study we analyzed whether rs8192678 or other PGC-1α SNPs affect PD risk or age of onset, singularly or in association with the A10398G SNP.Methods: Genomic DNA samples from 378 PD patients and 173 age-matched controls were analyzed by multiplexed probe sequencing, followed by statistical analyses of the association of each SNP, alone or in combination, with risk or age of onset of PD. Adjustments were made for age of onset being less than the age of sampling, and for the observed dependence between these two ages. The PD samples were obtained as two separate cohorts, therefore statistical methods accounted for different sampling methods between the two cohorts, and data were analyzed using Cox regression adjusted for sampling in the risk set definition and in the model.Results: The rs8192678 PGC-1α SNP was not associated with the risk of PD. However, an association of the PGC-1α rs8192678 GG variant with longevity was seen in control subjects (p = 0.019). Exploratory studies indicated that the CC variant of rs6821591 was associated with risk of early onset PD (p = 0.029), with PD age of onset (p = 0.047), and with longevity (p = 0.022). The rs2970848 GG allele was associated with risk of late onset PD (p = 0.027).Conclusions: These data reveal possible associations of the PGC-1α SNPs rs6821591 and rs2970848 with risk or age of onset of PD, and of the PGC-1α rs8192678 GG and the rs6821591 CC variants with longevity. If replicated in other datasets, these findings may have important implications regarding the role of PGC-1α in PD and longevity.Association of Social Determinants of Health With Brain MRI Outcomes in Individuals With Pediatric Onset Multiple Sclerosis
AbstractRoss, R., O'Neill, K. A., Betensky, R., Billiet, T., Kenney, R., Lovett, J. T., Maletic-Savatic, M., Meeks, H. D., Sosa, A., Waltz, M., & Krupp, L. B. (n.d.).Publication year
2024Journal title
NeurologyVolume
103Issue
12AbstractBackground and ObjectivesAccumulating evidence points to worse clinical outcomes among adults with multiple sclerosis (MS) belonging to minority or poverty-affected groups. By contrast, little is known about the outcomes of these populations with pediatric-onset MS (POMS). Individuals with POMS represent 5% of the MS population and are more racially diverse yet have been understudied regarding socioeconomic environment or characteristics. In this study, we investigated the association between childhood social determinants of health (SDOH) and brain MRI outcomes in patients with POMS.MethodsThis is a retrospective single-site cohort study of patients with POMS with brain MRI quantitatively analyzed using icobrain software to yield total white matter lesion, black hole, whole brain, white matter, and gray matter volumes. All patients with POMS evaluated at New York University Langone MS Center and who underwent high-quality volumetric MRI scans were included in this study. SDOH indicators of race, ethnicity, health insurance type, parental education, and childhood neighborhood social vulnerability index (SVI) were examined for association with MRI outcomes using linear least absolute shrinkage selection operator penalized regression modeling. Disease-modifying therapy (DMT) timing and DMT efficacy were compared for each SDOH category.ResultsA total of 138 patients with POMS (70% female) were included with a mean age of 19.86 years and median disease duration of 4 years at time of scan. Public health insurance, Black race, Hispanic ethnicity, low parental education, and high SVI (greater neighborhood disadvantage) were each associated with white matter lesion and black hole volume. SVI was the strongest individual predictor of total white matter lesion (β = 4.63, p = 0.002) and black hole volume (β = 2.91, p = 0.003). In models incorporating all SDOH variables, public health insurance was the strongest predictor of total lesion (β = 2.48, p = 0.01) and black hole volume (β = 1.50, p = 0.02), attenuating the effect of SVI (β = 1.66, p = 0.33 and β = 1.00, p = 0.39). There were no differences in DMT timing or efficacy between categories of social disadvantage.DiscussionIndividual-level and neighborhood-level indicators of social disadvantage are associated with worse brain MRI outcomes in POMS. Further investigation of race, ethnicity, and childhood disadvantage as risk factors of MS susceptibility and severity is needed to reduce MS health disparities.Assumptions regarding right censoring in the presence of left truncation
AbstractQian, J., & Betensky, R. (n.d.).Publication year
2014Journal title
Statistics and Probability LettersVolume
87Issue
1Page(s)
12-17AbstractClinical studies using complex sampling often involve both truncation and censoring, where there are options for the assumptions of independence of censoring and event and for the relationship between censoring and truncation. In this paper, we clarify these choices, show certain equivalences, and provide examples.Autoimmune, Autoinflammatory Disease and Cutaneous Malignancy Associations with Hidradenitis Suppurativa : A Cross-Sectional Study
AbstractBrydges, H. T., Onuh, O. C., Friedman, R., Barrett, J., Betensky, R., Lu, C. P., Caplan, A. S., Alavi, A., & Chiu, E. S. (n.d.).Publication year
2024Journal title
American Journal of Clinical DermatologyAbstractBackground: Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a debilitating cutaneous disease characterized by severe painful inflammatory nodules/abscesses. At present, data regarding the epidemiology and pathophysiology of this disease are limited. Objective: To define the prevalence and comorbidity associations of HS. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of EPICTM Cosmos© examining over 180 million US patients. Prevalences were calculated by demographic and odds ratios (OR) and identified comorbidity correlations. Results: All examined metabolism-related, psychological, and autoimmune/autoinflammatory (AI) diseases correlated with HS. The strongest associations were with pyoderma gangrenosum [OR 26.56; confidence interval (CI): 24.98–28.23], Down syndrome (OR 11.31; CI 10.93–11.70), and polycystic ovarian syndrome (OR 11.24; CI 11.09–11.38). Novel AI associations were found between HS and lupus (OR 6.60; CI 6.26–6.94) and multiple sclerosis (MS; OR 2.38; CI 2.29–2.48). Cutaneous malignancies were largely not associated in the unsegmented cohort; however, among Black patients, novel associations with melanoma (OR 2.39; CI 1.86–3.08) and basal cell carcinoma (OR 2.69; CI 2.15–3.36) were identified. Limitations: International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-based disease identification relies on coding fidelity and diagnostic accuracy. Conclusion: This is the first study to identify correlations between HS with melanoma and basal cell carcinoma (BCC) among Black patients as well as MS and lupus in all patients with HS.Autoimmune, Autoinflammatory Disease and Cutaneous Malignancy Associations with Hidradenitis Suppurativa : A Cross-Sectional Study
AbstractBrydges, H. T., Onuh, O. C., Friedman, R., Barrett, J., Betensky, R., Lu, C. P., Caplan, A. S., Alavi, A., & Chiu, E. S. (n.d.).Publication year
2024Journal title
American Journal of Clinical DermatologyAbstractBackground: Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a debilitating cutaneous disease characterized by severe painful inflammatory nodules/abscesses. At present, data regarding the epidemiology and pathophysiology of this disease are limited. Objective: To define the prevalence and comorbidity associations of HS. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of EPICTM Cosmos© examining over 180 million US patients. Prevalences were calculated by demographic and odds ratios (OR) and identified comorbidity correlations. Results: All examined metabolism-related, psychological, and autoimmune/autoinflammatory (AI) diseases correlated with HS. The strongest associations were with pyoderma gangrenosum [OR 26.56; confidence interval (CI): 24.98–28.23], Down syndrome (OR 11.31; CI 10.93–11.70), and polycystic ovarian syndrome (OR 11.24; CI 11.09–11.38). Novel AI associations were found between HS and lupus (OR 6.60; CI 6.26–6.94) and multiple sclerosis (MS; OR 2.38; CI 2.29–2.48). Cutaneous malignancies were largely not associated in the unsegmented cohort; however, among Black patients, novel associations with melanoma (OR 2.39; CI 1.86–3.08) and basal cell carcinoma (OR 2.69; CI 2.15–3.36) were identified. Limitations: International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-based disease identification relies on coding fidelity and diagnostic accuracy. Conclusion: This is the first study to identify correlations between HS with melanoma and basal cell carcinoma (BCC) among Black patients as well as MS and lupus in all patients with HS.Basic Science and Pathogenesis
AbstractAlzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI), A., Jacobs, T., Jacobson, S. R., Fortea, J., Berger, J. S., Vedvyas, A., Marsh, K., Gonzalez, M., Figueredo, L. F., Plaska, C. R., Blessing, E. M., Betensky, R., Rusinek, H., Glodzik, L., Wisniewski, T., Osorio, R. S., de Leon, M. J., & Cejudo, J. R. (n.d.).Publication year
2024Journal title
Alzheimer's and DementiaVolume
20Page(s)
e092957AbstractBACKGROUND: An elevated neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) has been associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, an elevated NLR has also been implicated in many other conditions that are risk factors for AD, prompting investigation into whether the NLR is directly linked with AD pathology or a result of underlying comorbidities. METHOD: We explored the relationship between the NLR and AD biomarkers in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of cognitively unimpaired (CU) subjects. Adjusting for sociodemographics, APOE4, and common comorbidities, we investigated these associations in two cohorts: the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) and NYU Center for Brain Health (CBH). Specifically, we examined associations between the NLR and cross-sectional measures of amyloid-β42 (Aβ42), total tau (t-tau), and phosphorylated tau181 (p-tau181), as well as the trajectories of these CSF measures obtained longitudinally. RESULT: A total of 111 ADNI and 190 NYU participants classified as CU with available NLR, CSF, and covariate data were included. Compared to NYU, ADNI participants were older (73.79 vs. 61.53, pBayesian Variable Selection Methods for Matched Case-Control Studies
AbstractAsafu-Adjei, J., Mahlet, G. T., Coull, B., Balasubramanian, R., Lev, M., Schwamm, L., & Betensky, R. (n.d.).Publication year
2017Journal title
International Journal of BiostatisticsVolume
13Issue
1AbstractMatched case-control designs are currently used in many biomedical applications. To ensure high efficiency and statistical power in identifying features that best discriminate cases from controls, it is important to account for the use of matched designs. However, in the setting of high dimensional data, few variable selection methods account for matching. Bayesian approaches to variable selection have several advantages, including the fact that such approaches visit a wider range of model subsets. In this paper, we propose a variable selection method to account for case-control matching in a Bayesian context and apply it using simulation studies, a matched brain imaging study conducted at Massachusetts General Hospital, and a matched cardiovascular biomarker study conducted by the High Risk Plaque Initiative.BCL-6 expression predicts improved survival in patients with primary central nervous system lymphoma
AbstractBraaten, K. M., Betensky, R., De Leval, L., Okada, Y., Hochberg, F. H., Louis, D. N., Harris, N. L., & Batchelor, T. T. (n.d.).Publication year
2003Journal title
Clinical Cancer ResearchVolume
9Issue
3Page(s)
1063-1069AbstractPurpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the histogenetic origin of primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL) with respect to stage of B-cell differentiation and to identify prognostic markers in a cohort of patients with PCNSL treated with i.v. high-dose methotrexate therapy. Experimental Design: This study included 33 patients with PCNSL treated with high-dose i.v. methotrexate at the Massachusetts General Hospital for whom archival tumor tissue was available. All 33 patients tested negative for HIV. The lymphomas were morphologically subclassified according to the Kiel system, as modified in the WHO classification. Immunohistochemistry for the following antigens was performed: BCL-6; BCL-2; MUM1; CD10; vs38c; CD138; CD44; p16; and p53. Fluorescence in situ hybridization and multiplex PCR for CDKN2A/p16 were also performed. Results: There were 17 women and 16 men enrolled, with a median age of 60 years. All tumors were diffuse large B-cell lymphomas. Of the 23 cases that could be subclassified, 22 were centroblastic, and 1 was immunoblastic. Twenty-six of 33 tumors were BCL-6+, 6 of 32 tumors were CD10+, 27 of 29 tumors were BCL-2+, 31 of 32 tumors were MUM1+, 11 of 31 tumors were CD44+, 4 of 33 tumors were vs38c+, and 0 of 32 tumors were CD138+. There were 18 of 32 (56%) complete responses and 8 of 32 (25%) partial responses to methotrexate, whereas 6 of 33 (18%) progressed during treatment. Ten patients died of disease. Expression of BCL-6 was significantly associated with longer overall survival (P = 0.002; median survival, 101 versus 14.7 months, with approximately 95% lower confidence limits of 41.7 and 8.8 months, respectively). Conclusions: In this group of 33 patients with PCNSL, expression of BCL-6 was significantly associated with longer overall survival. BCL-6 warrants further investigation as a potentially important prognostic marker in this disease.Behavioral deficits, early gliosis, dysmyelination and synaptic dysfunction in a mouse model of mucolipidosis IV
AbstractGrishchuk, Y., Sri, S., Rudinskiy, N., Ma, W., Stember, K. G., Cottle, M. W., Sapp, E., Difiglia, M., Muzikansky, A., Betensky, R., Wong, A. M., Bacskai, B. J., Hyman, B. T., Kelleher, R. J., Cooper, J. D., & Slaugenhaupt, S. A. (n.d.).Publication year
2014Journal title
Acta Neuropathologica CommunicationsVolume
2Issue
1AbstractMucolipidosis IV (MLIV) is caused by mutations in the gene MCOLN1. Patients with MLIV have severe neurologic deficits and very little is known about the brain pathology in this lysosomal disease. Using an accurate mouse model of mucolipidosis IV, we observed early behavioral deficits which were accompanied by activation of microglia and astrocytes. The glial activation that persisted during the course of disease was not accompanied by neuronal loss even at the late stage. In vivo [Ca2+]-imaging revealed no changes in resting [Ca2+] levels in Mcoln1 -/- cortical neurons, implying their physiological health. Despite the absence of neuron loss, we observed alterations in synaptic plasticity, as indicated by elevated paired-pulse facilitation and enhanced long-term potentiation. Myelination deficits and severely dysmorphic corpus callosum were present early and resembled white matter pathology in mucolipidosis IV patients. These results indicate the early involvement of glia, and challenge the traditional view of mucolipidosis IV as an overtly neurodegenerative condition.Biomarker validation with an imperfect reference : Issues and bounds
AbstractEmerson, S. C., Waikar, S. S., Fuentes, C., Bonventre, J. V., & Betensky, R. (n.d.).Publication year
2018Journal title
Statistical Methods in Medical ResearchVolume
27Issue
10Page(s)
2933-2945AbstractMotivated by the goal of evaluating a biomarker for acute kidney injury, we consider the problem of assessing operating characteristics for a new biomarker when a true gold standard for disease status is unavailable. In this case, the biomarker is typically compared to another imperfect reference test, and this comparison is used to estimate the performance of the new biomarker. However, errors made by the reference test can bias assessment of the new test. Analysis methods like latent class analysis have been proposed to address this issue, generally employing some strong and unverifiable assumptions regarding the relationship between the new biomarker and the reference test. We investigate the conditional independence assumption that is present in many such approaches and show that for a given set of observed data, conditional independence is only possible for a restricted range of disease prevalence values. We explore the information content of the comparison between the new biomarker and the reference test, and give bounds for the true sensitivity and specificity of the new test when operating characteristics for the reference test are known. We demonstrate that in some cases these bounds may be tight enough to provide useful information, but in other cases these bounds may be quite wide.Blood kidney injury molecule-1 is a biomarker of acute and chronic kidney injury and predicts progression to ESRD in type I diabetes
AbstractSabbisetti, V. S., Waikar, S. S., Antoine, D. J., Smiles, A., Wang, C., Ravisankar, A., Ito, K., Sharma, S., Ramadesikan, S., Lee, M., De Jager, P. L., Ngo, T. T., Radlinski, M., Dear, J. W., Park, K. B., Betensky, R., Krolewski, A. S., & Bonventre, J. V. (n.d.).Publication year
2014Journal title
Journal of the American Society of NephrologyVolume
25Issue
10Page(s)
2177-2186AbstractCurrently, no blood biomarker that specifically indicates injury to the proximal tubule of the kidney has been identified. Kidney injury molecule-1 (KIM-1) is highly upregulated in proximal tubular cells following kidney injury. The ectodomain of KIM-1 is shed into the lumen, and serves as a urinary biomarker of kidney injury. We report that shed KIM-1 also serves as a blood biomarker of kidney injury. Sensitive assays to measure plasma and serum KIM-1 in mice, rats, and humans were developed and validated in the current study. Plasma KIM-1 levels increased with increasing periods of ischemia (10, 20, or 30 minutes) in mice, as early as 3 hours after reperfusion; after unilateral ureteral obstruction (day 7) in mice; and after gentamicin treatment (50 or 200 mg/kg for 10 days) in rats. In humans, plasma KIM-1 levels were higher in patients with AKI than in healthy controls or post-cardiac surgery patients without AKI (area under the curve, 0.96). In patients undergoing cardiopulmonary bypass, plasma KIM-1 levels increased within 2 days after surgery only in patients who developed AKI (PBone involvement predicts poor outcome in atypical meningioma : Clinical article
AbstractGabeau-Lacet, D., Aghi, M., Betensky, R., Barker, F. G., Loeffler, J. S., & Louis, D. N. (n.d.).Publication year
2009Journal title
Journal of NeurosurgeryVolume
111Issue
3Page(s)
464-471AbstractObject. The authors identified clinical features associated with progression and death in atypical meningioma (AM). Methods. Forty-seven cases of primary AM treated at Massachusetts General Hospital were retrospectively evaluated for clinical features. Associations with progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival were assessed. Results. The estimated median PFS was 56 months (95% CI 35 months-not estimable). The overall 3- and 5-year PFS rates were 65% (95% CI 44-80%) and 48% (95% CI 26-67%), respectively. The median survival time and 5- and 10-year survival rates were 158 months (95% CI 103 months-not estimable), and 86% (95% CI 69-94%) and 61% (95% CI 35-79%), respectively. Subtotal resection was associated with increased rate of progression compared to gross-total resection (p = 0.05) and trended toward an association with decreased survival (p = 0.09). Bone involvement was associated with an increased rate of disease progression (p = 0.001) and decreased survival (p = 0.04). Bone involvement remained significantly associated with progression after Bonferroni adjustment for multiple comparisons (p = 0.008) and in bivariate Cox regression models. Seventy-eight percent of patients with bone involvement at primary diagnosis had tumor recurrence within bone, whereas only 25% of patients without evidence of bone invasion at primary diagnosis experienced osseous recurrence. Conclusions. Osseous involvement is associated with a poor outcome in patients with AMs; bone assessment is therefore extremely important. Further investigation is warranted to assess the effectiveness of bone resection and/or bone-directed radiation therapy in improving outcome.C455R notch3 mutation in a Colombian CADASIL kindred with early onset of stroke
AbstractBetensky, R., Arboleda-Velasquez, J. F., Lopera, F., Lopez, E., Frosch, M. P., Sepulveda-Falla, D., Gutierrez, J. E., Vargas, S., Medina, M., Martinez De Arrieta, C., Lebo, R. V., Slaugenhaupt, S. A., Betensky, R. A., Villegas, A., Arcos-Burgos, M., Rivera, D., Restrepo, J. C., & Kosik, K. S. (n.d.).Publication year
2002Journal title
NeurologyVolume
59Issue
2Page(s)
277-279AbstractCerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy (CADASIL) is caused by mutations in the notch3 epidermal growth factor-like repeats. A Colombian kindred carries a novel C455R mutation located in the predicted ligand-binding domain. Stroke occurred in the patients at an unusually early age (median age: 31 years) in comparison to the more frequent onset in the fourth decade of life in other CADASIL populations, including a second Colombian kindred with an R1031C mutation.Calcineurin activation causes retinal ganglion cell degeneration
AbstractQu, J., Matsouaka, R., Betensky, R., Hyman, B. T., & Grosskreutz, C. L. (n.d.).Publication year
2012Journal title
Molecular VisionVolume
18Page(s)
2828-2838AbstractPurpose: We previously reported that calcineurin, a Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent serine/threonine phosphatase, is activated and proposed that it participates in retinal ganglion cell (RGC) apoptosis in two rodent ocular hypertension models. In this study, we tested whether calcineurin activation by itself, even in the absence of ocular hypertension, is sufficient to cause RGC degeneration. Methods: We compared RGC and optic nerve morphology after adeno-associated virus serotype 2 (AAV2)-mediated transduction of RGCs with constitutively active calcineurin (CaNCA) or unactivated, wild-type calcineurin (CaNwt). Retinas and optic nerves were harvested 7-16 weeks after injection of the AAV into mouse vitreous. In flatmounted retinas, the transduced RGCs were identified with immunohistochemistry. The morphology of the RGCs was revealed by immunostaining for neurofilament SMI32 or by using GFP-M transgenic mice. A modified Sholl analysis was applied to analyze the RGC dendritic morphology. Optic nerve damage was assessed with optic nerve grading according to the Morrison standard. Results: CaNwt and CaNCA were highly expressed in the injected eyes. Compared to the CaNwt-expressing RGCs, the CaNCA-expressing RGCs had smaller somas, smaller dendritic field areas, shorter total dendrite lengths, and simpler dendritic branching patterns. At 16 weeks, the CaNCA-expressing eyes had greater optic nerve damage than the CaNwt-expressing eyes. Conclusions: Calcineurin activation is sufficient to cause RGC dendritic degeneration and optic nerve damage. These data support the hypothesis that calcineurin activation is an important mediator of RGC degeneration, and are consistent with the hypothesis that calcineurin activation may contribute to RGC neurodegeneration in glaucoma.Calcineurin inhibition with systemic FK506 treatment increases dendritic branching and dendritic spine density in healthy adult mouse brain
AbstractSpires-Jones, T. L., Kay, K., Matsouka, R., Rozkalne, A., Betensky, R., & Hyman, B. T. (n.d.).Publication year
2011Journal title
Neuroscience lettersVolume
487Issue
3Page(s)
260-263AbstractCalcineurin has been implicated as part of a critical signaling pathway for learning and memory, and recent data suggest that calcineurin activation mediates some of the neurotoxicity of the Alzheimer related neurotoxin Aβ. Immunosuppression via calcineurin inhibition with the compound FK506 is an important treatment for organ transplant patients. Here we use Golgi impregnation techniques, along with a new survival analysis-based statistical approach for analysis of dendritic complexity, to show that in healthy adult mice one week of treatment with FK506 affects both the branching patterns and dendritic spine density of cortical neurons. These results indicate that calcineurin inhibition leads to readily detectable changes in brain morphology, further implicating calcineurin related pathways in both the function and structure of the adult brain.Capturing Learning Curves With the Multiday Boston Remote Assessment of Neurocognitive Health (BRANCH) : Feasibility, Reliability, and Validity
AbstractWeizenbaum, E. L., Soberanes, D., Hsieh, S., Molinare, C. P., Buckley, R. F., Betensky, R., Properzi, M. J., Marshall, G. A., Rentz, D. M., Johnson, K. A., Sperling, R. A., Amariglio, R. E., & Papp, K. V. (n.d.).Publication year
2023Journal title
NeuropsychologyAbstractObjective: Unsupervised remote digital cognitive assessment makes frequent testing feasible and allows for measurement of learning over repeated evaluations on participants’ own devices. This provides the opportunity to derive individual multiday learning curve scores over short intervals. Here, we report feasibility, reliability, and validity, of a 7-day cognitive battery from the Boston Remote Assessment for Neurocognitive Health (Multiday BRANCH), an unsupervised web-based assessment. Method: Multiday BRANCH was administered remotely to 181 cognitively unimpaired older adults using their own electronic devices. For 7 consecutive days, participants completed three tests with associative memory components (Face–Name, Groceries–Prices, Digit Signs), using the same stimuli, to capture multiday learning curves for each test. We assessed the feasibility of capturing learning curves across the 7 days. Additionally, we examined the reliability and associations of learning curves with demographics, and traditional cognitive and subjective report measures. Results: Multiday BRANCH was feasible with 96% of participants completing all study assessments; there were no differences dependent on type of device used (t = 0.71, p =.48) or time of day completed (t = −0.08, p =.94). Psychometric properties of the learning curves were sound including good test–retest reliability of individuals’ curves (intraclass correlation = 0.94). Learning curves were positively correlated with in-person cognitive tests and subjective report of cognitive complaints. Conclusions: Multiday BRANCH is a feasible, reliable, and valid cognitive measure that may be useful for identifying subtle changes in learning and memory processes in older adults. In the future, we will determine whether Multiday BRANCH is predictive of the presence of preclinical Alzheimer’s disease.Capturing learning curves with the multiday Boston Remote Assessment of Neurocognitive Health (BRANCH): Feasibility, reliability, and validity
AbstractBetensky, R., Weizenbaum, E. L., Soberanes, D., Hsieh, S., Molinare, C. P., Buckley, R. F., Betensky, R. A., Properzi, M. J., Marshall, G. A., Rentz, D. M., Johnson, K. A., Sperling, R. A., Amariglio, R. E., & Papp, K. V. (n.d.).Publication year
2024Journal title
NeuropsychologyVolume
38Issue
2Page(s)
198-210AbstractUnsupervised remote digital cognitive assessment makes frequent testing feasible and allows for measurement of learning over repeated evaluations on participants' own devices. This provides the opportunity to derive individual multiday learning curve scores over short intervals. Here, we report feasibility, reliability, and validity, of a 7-day cognitive battery from the Boston Remote Assessment for Neurocognitive Health (Multiday BRANCH), an unsupervised web-based assessment.Capturing learning curves with the multiday Boston Remote Assessment of Neurocognitive Health (BRANCH): Feasibility, reliability, and validity
AbstractBetensky, R., Weizenbaum, E. L., Soberanes, D., Hsieh, S., Molinare, C. P., Buckley, R. F., Betensky, R. A., Properzi, M. J., Marshall, G. A., Rentz, D. M., Johnson, K. A., Sperling, R. A., Amariglio, R. E., & Papp, K. V. (n.d.).Publication year
2024Journal title
NeuropsychologyVolume
38Issue
2Page(s)
198-210AbstractUnsupervised remote digital cognitive assessment makes frequent testing feasible and allows for measurement of learning over repeated evaluations on participants' own devices. This provides the opportunity to derive individual multiday learning curve scores over short intervals. Here, we report feasibility, reliability, and validity, of a 7-day cognitive battery from the Boston Remote Assessment for Neurocognitive Health (Multiday BRANCH), an unsupervised web-based assessment.