Academic Appointments
- Professor of Neurology (in the Gertrude H. Sergievsky Center and the Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer's Disease and the Aging Brain) at the Columbia University Medical Center

Karen Bell is a Professor of Neurology at Columbia University Medical Center, in the Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer's Disease and the Aging Brain and the GH Sergievsky Center. A Bronx native who graduated from New York University, and the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, she completed internship in internal medicine at Harlem Hospital Center and neurology residency at The Neurological Institute at Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons. After completing a fellowship in Behavioral Neurology, she focused her clinical and research efforts to specialize on the evaluation and treatment of neurodegenerative cognitive disorders at the Taub Institute.
As the Director of the Education Core of the Alzheimer's Disease Research Center at Columbia University, she has developed physician and community education programs. She is an active member of the American Academy of Neurology and the National Medical Association, serving on various subcommittees. She is an external advisor to National Medical Association's Project I.M.P.A.C.T. initiative. She also serves on multiple NINDS Data Safety Monitoring Boards and has been a member of the Columbia University Medical Center Institutional Review Board since 2003. She was appointed to the New York State Council on Graduate Medical Education (NYSCOGME) by Governor Paterson in 2009 and chairs the NYS COGME Empire Clinical Research Investigator Program Workgroup. She has participated as a mentor in the Harlem Children Society science program for many years.
As the Director of the Alzheimer's Disease Clinical Trials Group at Columbia University Medical Center, she has led the clinical trials group at the Taub Institute to become a leading center in Phase II and III trials with potential disease modifying agents. She was the Director of the Minority Recruitment Core for NIA-funded Alzheimer's Disease Cooperative Study (ADCS), and is interested in achieving ethnic diversity in enrollment in Alzheimer's disease clinical trials on a national level. As such she has been spearheading the ADCS recruitment efforts to increase diversity in clinical trials since 2002.
Departmental Appointments
- Department of Neurology
Division of Aging and Dementia
Education and Training
- Internship: Harlem Hospital Center
- Residency: Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, NY
- Fellowship: Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, NY
Centers / Institutes / Programs
- Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer's Disease and the Aging Brain
- Gertrude H. Sergievsky Center
Links
Lab Locations
CUMC/Neurological Institute of New York
710 West 168th Street
New York, NY 10032- Phone:
- (212) 305-6939
- Fax:
- (212) 305-1145
Committees / Societies / Memberships
- American Academy of Neurology
- National Medical Association
NIH Grants
ADOUBLE-BLIND, PLACEBO-CONTROLLED, 16-WEEK STUDY OF THE COGNITIVE EFFECTS OF THE ORAL P38 ALPHA KINASE INHIBITOR NEFLAMAPIMOD IN DEMENTIA WITH LEWY BODIES (DLB) (P&S Industry Clinical Trial)
Dec 12 2019 - Dec 12 2024
COMBINATION ANTI-AMYLOID THERAPY FOR PRECLINICAL ALZHEIMER S DISEASE (Federal Gov)
Sep 30 2018 - May 31 2024
ANTI-AMYLOID TREATMENT IN ASYMPTOMATIC ALZHEIMER S DISEASE. A4 OPEN LABEL PERIOD (Federal Gov)
May 15 2019 - Feb 29 2024
NATURAL HISTORY STUDY OF C3 GLOMERULOPATHY: DISCOVERY OF HISTOLOGICAL PREDICTORS OF OUTCOME. A PHASE 2 RANDOMIZED DOUBLE-BLIND PLACEBO-CONTROLLED TRAIL TO EVALUATE THE EFFICACY AND SAFETY OF BHV-4157 IN PATIENTS WITH MILD TO MODERATE ALZHEIMER'S (P&S Industry Clinical Trial)
Feb 6 2019 - Feb 6 2024
THE A3 STUDY: ANTE-AMYLOID PREVENTION OF ALZHEIMER S DISEASE (Federal Gov)
Aug 15 2016 - Apr 30 2023
ALZHEIMER S CLINICAL TRIALS CONSORTIUM (ACTC) (U24) (Federal Gov)
Dec 2 2017 - Nov 30 2022
ANTI-VIRAL THERAPY IN ALZHEIMER S DISEASE (Federal Gov)
Sep 15 2017 - May 31 2022
TASK-SPECIFIC AND PERSON-SPECIFIC FACTORS RELATED TO SUBJECTIVECOGNITIVE DECLINE (Federal Gov)
Aug 1 2017 - Apr 30 2022
WHICAP -GENETIC EPIDEMIOLOGY OF CEREBROVASCULAR FACTORS IN ALZHEIMER S DISEASE (Federal Gov)
Aug 1 2016 - Jun 30 2021
ALZHEIMER S DISEASE RESEARCH CENTER - OVERALL (Federal Gov)
Jun 15 2015 - May 31 2021
ALZHEIMER S DISEASE RESEARCH CENTER - OVERALL (Federal Gov)
Jun 15 2015 - May 31 2021
BIOMARKERS OF ALZHEIMER S DISEASE IN ADULTS WITH DOWN SYNDROME (Federal Gov)
Sep 30 2015 - Apr 30 2021
CENTER OF EXCELLENCE IN ALZHEIMER DISEASE (NYS) (NY State Gov)
Jul 1 2016 - Feb 28 2021
VASCULAR CONTRIBUTIONS TO COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT AND DEMENTIA AND STROKE IN A BI-RACIAL NATIONAL SAMPLE (Federal Gov)
Feb 15 2018 - Jan 31 2021
ALZHEIMER S DISEASE RESEARCH CENTER - OVERALL (Federal Gov)
Jun 15 2015 - May 31 2020
ALZHEIMER S DISEASE RESEARCH CENTER - OVERALL (Federal Gov)
Jun 15 2015 - May 31 2020
BIOMARKERS OF ALZHEIMER S DISEASE IN ADULTS WITH DOWN SYNDROME (Federal Gov)
Sep 30 2015 - Apr 30 2020
BIOMARKERS OF ALZHEIMER S DISEASE IN ADULTS WITH DOWN SYNDROME (Federal Gov)
Sep 30 2015 - Apr 30 2020
APHASE 2 MULTI-CENTER, RANDOMIZED, DOUBLE BLIND, PLACEBOCONTROLLED,PARALLEL GROUP STUDY TO EVALUATE THE EFFICACY AND SAFETY OF T-817MA IN PATIENTS WITH MILD TO MODERATE ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE (US202) (P&S Industry Clinical Trial)
Oct 3 2014 - Oct 3 2019
PROTOCOL H8A-MC-LZAZ(A)/ADC-040-A4 ANTI-AMYLOID TREATMENT IN ASYMPTOMATIC ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE (A4 STUDY) (P&S Industry Clinical Trial)
Aug 19 2014 - Aug 19 2019
PHASEII STUDY TO ASSESS THE SAFETY, TOLERABILITY, AND TARGET ENGAGEMENT OF AMX0035, A FIXED COMBINATION OF SODIUM PHENYLBUTYRATE AND TAUROURSODEOXYCHOLIC ACID FOR THE TREATMENT OF ALZHEIMER S DISEASE (Private)
Jun 5 2018 - Jun 4 2019
OLFACTORY DEFICITS AND DONEPEZIL TREATMENT IN COGNITIVELY IMPAIRED ELDERLY (Federal Gov)
Jun 15 2013 - May 31 2019
OLFACTORY DEFICITS AND DONEPEZIL TREATMENT IN COGNITIVELY IMPAIRED ELDERLY (Federal Gov)
Jun 15 2013 - May 31 2018
A PHASE 2A MULTI-CENTER STUDY OF 18F-FDG PET, SAFETY, AND TOLERABILITY OF AZD0530 IN MILD ALZHEIMER S DISEASE PROTOCOL# ADC-049 (Federal Gov)
Jul 1 2015 - May 31 2017
EPIDEMIOLOGY OF BIOMARKERS OF RISK AND PROGRESSION IN LOAD (Federal Gov)
May 1 2010 - Apr 30 2017
ALZHEIMER S DISEASE COOPERATIVE STUDY - A4 STUDY (Federal Gov)
Dec 1 2015 - Feb 28 2017
HE ALZHEIMER S DISEASE COOPERATIVE STUDY - JANET (Federal Gov)
Mar 1 2016 - Feb 28 2017
LONGITUDINAL EVALUATION OF AMYLOID RISK AND NEURODEGENERATION - THE LEARN STUDY (Private)
Nov 1 2015 - Oct 31 2016
CENTER OF EXCELLENCE IN ALZHEIMER DISEASE (NYS) (NY State Gov)
Jul 1 2016 - Oct 1 2016
PHASE II STUDY TO EVALUATE THE IMPACT ON BIOMARKERS OF RESVERATROL TREATMENT IN PATIENTS WITH MILD TO MODERATE ALZHEIMER S DISEASE (Federal Gov)
Jul 18 1999 - Dec 31 2014
APHASE IIA,MC,RANDOMIZED,THIRD-PARTY UNBLINDED,LT EXTENSION STUDY TO DETERMINE SAFETY, TOLERABILITY & IMMUNOGENICITY OF (P&S Industry Clinical Trial)
Oct 21 2009 - Oct 21 2014
EARLY AD DETECTION WITH ASL MRI & COVARIANCE ANALYSIS (Federal Gov)
Sep 1 2007 - Jun 30 2014
ARANDOMIZED, DOUBLE-BLIND, PLACEBO-CONTROLLED, TWO DOSE-ARM STUDY OF THE SAFETY AND EFFECTIVENESS OF IMMUNE GLOBULIN (P&S Industry Clinical Trial)
Dec 4 2008 - Dec 15 2013
ALZHEIMER S DISEASE COOPERATIVE STUDY (Federal Gov)
Sep 30 1991 - Dec 31 2012
SAFETY, TOLERABILITY, AND EFFICACY OF AAB-001 (ELN115727) INPATIENTS WITH ALZHEIMER"S DISEASE WHO PARTICIPATED IN STUDY (P&S Industry Clinical Trial)
May 1 2007 - Dec 31 2012
ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE COOPERATIVE STUDY (Federal Gov)
Sep 30 1991 - Jun 30 2012
ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE COOPERATIVE STUDY (Federal Gov)
Sep 30 1991 - Jun 30 2012
ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE COOPERATIVE STUDY (Federal Gov)
Sep 30 1991 - Jun 30 2012
RAGE INHIBITOR (P&S Industry Clinical Trial)
Aug 22 2007 - Dec 10 2011
BAPINEUZUMAB IN SUBJ (P&S Industry Clinical Trial)
Mar 11 2008 - Sep 30 2011
NOVARTIS CAD (P&S Industry Clinical Trial)
Dec 12 2008 - Jun 30 2011
WYETH--3134K1-2201-U (P&S Industry Clinical Trial)
Oct 19 2007 - May 30 2011
ALZHEIMER S DISEASE PREVENTION TRIAL WITH ESTROGEN (Federal Gov)
Jul 1 2004 - Jul 31 2010
THE EPIDEMIOLOGY OF DEMENTIA IN AN URBAN COMMUNITY (Federal Gov)
Feb 1 1989 - Jun 30 2010
ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE COOPERATIVE STUDY (Federal Gov)
Sep 15 2001 - Jun 30 2006
ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE COOPERATIVE STUDY (Federal Gov)
Sep 15 2001 - Jun 30 2006
DENTAL AMALGAMS AND NEUROPSYCHOLOGIC FUNCTION (Federal Gov)
Apr 1 1997 - Jan 31 2001