Department of Neurology

Edward Zamrini, MD

Associate Professor of Neurology

Director of Clinical Trials, Center for Alzheimer's Care, Imaging, and Research

Dr. Edward Zamrini is Associate Professor of Neurology, Director of Clinical Trials at the University of Utah Center for Alzheimer’s Care, Imaging and Research (CACIR), a member of the University’s Center on Aging, and a member of the University of Utah Brain Institute. Dr. Zamrini has over 20 years of experience in Alzheimer’s care, education and research.Zamrini

After receiving his medical degree from the University of Beirut in Lebanon, Dr. Zamrini interned at Brooklyn’s Lutheran Medical Center and completed his residency at New York’s North Shore University Hospital, where he was chief resident of Neurology. He completed fellowships in Epilepsy and Neurogeriatrics & Behavioral Neurology at the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta, before going on to direct the Geriatric Neuropsychiatry Program at Augusta’s VA Medical Center. Prior to joining the University of Utah in 2006, Dr. Zamrini served as Director of the Clinical and Information Transfer Cores at the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Dr. Zamrini’s clinical interests center on Alzheimer’s disease and related memory disorders, especially dementia that is atypical, rapidly progressive, familial, or early-onset. He has been an investigator on more than 50 research projects, including clinical drug trials, neuroimaging studies, and studies on the clinical features and pathophysiology of Alzheimer’s and related neurodegenerative disorders.

Since moving to Utah, Dr. Zamrini has been an active participant in educational programs offered by the Alzheimer’s Association, AARP, and the University of Utah’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute and Brain Institute. As a member of the Intermountain West’s only academic Alzheimer’s center, he helps train future dementia experts through a Cognitive Disorders mini-fellowship program and regional, national and international continuing education conferences.

He is an affiliate of the Alzheimer’s Disease Cooperative Study (ADCS), a national research consortium funded by the NIA to conduct multi-center clinical studies. He also is a member of the American Academy of Neurology, American College of Physicians, and New York Academy of Sciences.

Dr. Zamrini is moved by the tremendous impact a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s can have on patients and families. "I constantly reassure patients that they are not ’crazy’ but instead suffer from a disease," he says. "We need to help families focus on quality of life despite difficult circumstances." Detecting Alzheimer’s before symptoms appear is one of Dr. Zamrini’s primary goals. "Research into early diagnosis and therapeutic intervention can help us lessen the impact of the disease and, ultimately, delay or prevent it."

Education & Training:

  • Undergraduate, Biology & Chemistry, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon
  • MD, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon
  • Internship, Medicine, Lutheran Medical Center, Brooklyn NY
  • Residency, Neurology, North Shore University Hospital, Manhasset NY
  • Fellow, Epilepsy, Bowman-Gray School of Medicine, Winston-Salem NC
  • Fellow, Neurogeneriatris / Behavioral Neurology, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta GA
  • Fellow, Epilepsy, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta GA

Selected Publications:

  • Zamrini E, McGwin G, Roseman JM. (2004). Association between statin use and Alzheimer's disease. Neuroepidemiology, 23(1-2), 94-8.
  • Zamrini E, Parrish JA, Parsons D, Harrell LE. (2004). Medical comorbidity in black and white patients with Alzheimer's disease. South Med J, 97(1), 2-6.
  • Zamrini E, De Santi S, Tolar M. (2004). Imaging is superior to cognitive testing for early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. Neurobiol Aging, 25(5), 685-91.
  • Zamrini EY. (2006). Emerging Drug Therapies for Dementia. Geriatrics and Aging, 9(2), 107,110-113.
  • Rahman A, Baker PS, Allman RM, Zamrini E. (2007). Dietary Factors And Cognitive Impairment In Community-Dwelling Elderly. Journal of Nutrition, Health and Aging, 11(1), 49-54.
  • Okonkwo OC, Griffith HR, Copeland JN, Belue K, Lanza S, Zamrini EY, Harrell LE, Brockington JC, Clark D, Raman R, Marson DC. (2008). Medical decision-making capacity in mild cognitive impairment: a 3-year longitudinal study. Neurology, 71(19), 1474-80.

Book Chapters:

  • Zamrini E. (2004). Alzheimer's Disease.  In Faught RE (Ed), Year in Neurology, 2004. Oxford, Clinical Publishing Services.
  • Zamrini EY, Quicino M. (In press). Other Dementias. In Weiner MF, Lipton AM (Eds.), The Dementias: Diagnosis, Treatment and Research. Arlington: American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc.

Complete Listing of Publications: