Research Areas:
Summary of CV:
Dr. Villarreal completed his B.A. on Medical Technology from the University of Panama (2006), and finished his Ph.D. in Biotechnology from the Acharya Nagarjuna University in India (2016) with the support of SENACYT’s Scholarship in Doctorates. The main goal of his research includes cognition, ageing, and neurodegeneration. Dr. Villarreal has identified and validated the genetic risk factors and biomarkers linked with Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) and other cognitive pathologies related to age in a Panamanian older adult cohort. The biological contribution of these factors and biomarkers to the development and progress to neurodegenerative diseases is still one of the less studied and defined areas of science. Using this approach, his objective is to generate replicable hypotheses from clinical and laboratory trials. Thus, this multidisciplinary approach will facilitate not only our understanding of the disease, but also the integral development of therapeutic strategies.
Dr. Villarreal has been the recipient of SENACYT and Arturo Melo Brain Research Project grants. In 2012, he co-funded the Panama Aging Research Initiative (PARI; @memoriaysalud), a national collaborative initiative to encourage research focused on Panama’s elderly public and mental health. Dr. Alcibiades Villarreal is Associated Researcher of the Instituto Conmemorativo Gorgas de Estudios de la Salud (ICGES), Faculty member of the Universidad de las Américas (UDELAS), and member of the Ciencia en Panamá movement, MDPHD program professor of the Universidad de Panamá.
Dr. Villareal likes to meet and be part of the brewing culture in Panama, enjoy artisanal brews, going fishing, and working with non-profit organizations that bring aid to the most vulnerable.
Selected Publications:
Diana C. Oviedo, Ambar R. Perez-Lao, Julio A. Flores-Cuadra, Alcibiades E. Villarreal, Maria B. Carreira, Shantal A. Grajales and Gabrielle B. Britton. Apolipoprotein 4 affects multiple domains of neuropsychological functioning in asample of elderly Hispanics. Journal of Alzheimers Disease. Volumen: in press.
Alcibiades E. Villarreal, Ambar R Pérez-Lao, Diana C Oviedo, Shantal GrajalesMS, Maria B Carreira, Gabrielle B Britton. The Panama aging research initiative longitudinal study. MEDICC review, 21, 54-58. https://www.scielosp.org/article/medicc/2019.v21n2-3/54-58/en/
Zuleima Caballero E., Ricardo Correa, Marilda S. Nascimento, Alcibiades E. Villarreal, Alejandro Llanes and Norival Kesper, JR. High sensitivity and reproducibility of in-house ELISAs using differentgenotypes of Trypanosoma cruzi. Parasite Immunol, 41, 12627-12627. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30908676/
Diana C Oviedo, Hector Lezcano, Ambar R Perez, Alcibiades E. Villarreal, Maria BCarreira, Baltasar Isaza, Lavinia Wesley, Shantal A Grajales, Sara Fernandez,Ana Frank, Gabrielle B Britton. Vascular biomarkers and ApoE4 expression in mild cognitive impairment andAlzheimers disease. AIMS neuroscience, 5, 148-161. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7181887/
Alcibiades E. Villarreal, Shantal Grajales, Lineth López, Diana C Oviedo, MaríaB Carreira, Lee Anne Gómez, Astevia Montalván, Vivian Vásquez, Gabrielle Britton, Panama Aging Research Initiative Limitations in activities of daily living among dementia-free older adults inPanama. Ageing International, 43: 237-253. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12126-018-9321-2
Gabrielle B Britton, Sid E OBryant, Leigh A Johnson, James R Hall, Alcibiades E. Villarreal, Diana C Oviedo, Ambar R Pérez-Lao, María B Carreira. Inflammatory biomarkers, depressive symptoms and falls among the elderly inPanama. Current aging science, 11, 236-241. https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/ben/cas/2018/00000011/00000004/art00006
Sid E OBryant, Michelle M Mielke, Robert A Rissman, Simone Lista, HugoVanderstichele, Henrik Zetterberg, Piotr Lewczuk, Holly Posner, James Hall,Leigh Johnson, Yiu-Lian Fong, Johan Luthman, Andreas Jeromin, RichardBatrla-Utermann, Alcibiades Villarreal, Gabrielle Britton, Peter J Snyder, KimHenriksen, Paula Grammas, Veer Gupta, Ralph Martins, Harald Hampel, BiofluidBased Biomarker Professional Interest Area. Blood-based biomarkers in Alzheimer disease: current state of the science and anovel collaborative paradigm for advancing from discovery to clinic. Alzheimers & Dementia, 13, 45- 58. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1552526016330564
Hector Lezcano, Alcibiades Villarreal, Shantal Grajales, Astevia Montalvan,Vivian Vasquez, Gabrielle Britton. CARACTERÍSTICAS Y UTILIDAD DE LA ESCALA DE DEPRESION GERIÁTRICA EN ADULTOSMAYORES PANAMEÑOS. Revista Médico Científica, 30, 4-10. https://revistamedicocientifica.org/index.php/rmc/article/view/459
Diana Oviedo, Gabrielle Britton, Alcibíades Villareal. Deterioro cognitivo leve y enfermedad de Alzheimer: Revisión de conceptos. pens. crit., 5, 53-82. http://ipc.org.pa/ojs/index.php/ipc/article/view/70/68
Sid E OBryant, Melissa Edwards, Leigh Johnson, James Hall, Alcibiades EVillarreal, Gabrielle B Britton, Mary Quiceno, C Munro Cullum, Neill RGraff-Radford. A blood screening test for Alzheimers disease. Alzheimers & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring, 3, 83- 90. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352872916300343
Alcibiades E Villarreal, Shantal Grajales, Sid E OBryant, Melissa Edwards,Lineth López, Astevia Montalván, Gabrielle B Britton. Characterization of Alzheimers Disease and mild cognitive impairment in olderadults in Panama Authors. Journal of Alzheimers Disease, 54, 897-901. https://content.iospress.com/articles/journal-of-alzheimers-disease/jad160402
Alcibiades E Villarreal, Sid E OBryant, Melissa Edwards, Shantal Grajales,Gabrielle B Britton, Panama Aging Research Initiative. Serum-based protein profiles of Alzheimers disease and mild cognitive impairmentin elderly Hispanics. Neurodegenerative disease management, 6, 203-213. https://www.futuremedicine.com/doi/abs/10.2217/nmt-2015-0009
Alejandro A Vernaza, Ricardo Aguilar, Ninoshka Mendoza, Lineth Lopez, FernandoDiaz, Dimas Quiel, Gabrielle Britton, Alcibiades Villarreal, German Espino,Cesar Cuero, Juan Moscoso, Luis Ortiz, Elena Blake, Yina Gutierrez. P029 Algorithm for haploidentical hematopoietic cell transplant in Panama. Human Immunology, 77, 60. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0198885916302476
Villarreal AE, O’Bryant SE, Edwards M, Grajales S, Britton GB for the Panama Aging Research Initiative (2016). Serum-based protein profiles of Alzheimer’s disease and mild cognitive impairment in elderly Hispanics. Neurodegenerative Disease Management, 6(3), 203-13. doi: 10.2217/nmt-2015-0009. PMID: 27229914.
Villarreal AE, Grajales S, López L, Britton GB, Panama Aging Research Initiative (2015). Cognitive impairment, depression and co-occurrence of both among the elderly in Panama: differential associations with multimorbidity and functional limitations. BioMed Research International, Article ID 718701. doi: 10.1155/2015/718701. PMID: 26798641.
Villarreal AE, Barron R, Rao KS, Britton GB (2014). The effects of impaired cerebral circulation on Alzheimer’s disease pathology: Evidence from animal studies. Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, 42(3), 707-722. doi: 10.3233/JAD-140144. PMID: 24927711.
Villarreal AE, Gómez LA, Grajales S, Arrue R, Carrillo-Pujol G, Ferro F, Rao KSJ, Britton GB (2014). La aplicación de biomarcadores a la búsqueda de nuevas farmacoterapias para el tratamiento de la enfermedad de Alzheimer. En: J.C. García Rodríguez (Ed.). Neuroprotección en Enfermedades Neuro y Heredodegenerativas. Barcelona, España: OmniaScience; 2014. pp. 79-120.
Villarreal AE, Ruiz C. Determinación de la concentración de N-tepopéptidos (NTx) en orina de pacientes que utilizan glucocorticoides por más de un año lo que aumenta el riesgo de pérdida de masa ósea en pacientes del complejo metropolitano Dr. Arnulfo Arias Madrid (Tesis de Licenciatura). Panamá, diciembre 2005. Revista Científica de Tecnología Médica.
Alcibiades Villarreal, PhD
Highest degree of studies: Ph.D., Biotechnology, Acharya Nagarjuna University, INDIA, 2016.
Category: Staff scientist, Center for Neuroscience, and Clinical Research Unit.
National Research System Level (SNI): National Researcher Level 2
Contact information:
E-mail: avillarreal@indicasat.org.pa
Phone: +507 517 0708 +507 60707966