Bill Van Nostrand has been working in Alzheimer’s disease research for more than 30 years. He was the first to purify and characterize amyloid precursor protein (APP), the progenitor of amyloid-beta (A-beta).  Van Nostrand’s research focuses on vascular-mediated aspects of cognitive impairment and dementia, which are key elements of Alzheimer’s and related disorders. Current studies include the causes of abnormal accumulation of A-beta in Alzheimer’s and a related condition called cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA). Van Nostrand is also noted for developing transgenic animal models of disease which have helped to provide key insights into disease processes.