Dr. Beach’s own research, and most of the research supported by the Brain and Body Donation Program, has been focused on Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and related conditions. He has also supported the national cancer research effort in National Cancer Institute-funded studies.
Dr. Beach’s Parkinson’s work has been continuously funded by the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research since 2007, and has centered on developing new, more accurate diagnostic tests for Parkinson’s disease, particularly using biopsies of the colon, submandibular gland and skin. He is currently a Principal Investigator for a multi-center study of skin biopsy for the diagnosis of Lewy body dementias, awarded by the National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke. Dr. Beach has also made major contributions to the validation and FDA approval of diagnostic PET scans for Alzheimer’s disease. Recently he was funded by the National Institute on Aging to determine the effects of COVID-19 on the brain.