Key Researcher
Anne Murray, MD, MSc, is a geriatrician, internist, and neuroepidemiologist at Hennepin Healthcare. Dr. Murray has been investigating the epidemiology of dementia and caring for dementia patients for more than 30 years, and for the past 15 years has focused on the epidemiology of cognitive impairment in older patients with kidney disease and diabetes. She is the Medical Director of the Berman Center for Clinical Outcomes and Research at Hennepin Healthcare Research Institute (HHRI) and Treasurer for HHRI. She is a Professor of Medicine and Adjunct Associate Professor of Neurology at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Murray is also the US PI for the NIA and NCI-sponsored ASPREE — ASPirin in Reducing Events in the Elderly- low-dose aspirin trial, and the ongoing observational follow-on ASPREE XT study. Dr. Murray also enjoys teaching future geriatricians as a Faculty member of the Geriatric Fellowship Program at Hennepin Healthcare, an acute care and teaching hospital for the University of Minnesota.
Dementia and Aging
Dr. Murray has been investigating the epidemiology of dementia and caring for dementia patients for more than 30 years. For the past 15 years she has conducted research on the epidemiology of cognitive impairment in older patients with kidney disease and diabetes. She is the Medical Director of the Berman Center for Clinical Outcomes and Research at Hennepin Healthcare Research Institute (HHRI) and Treasurer for HHRI, and conducts research at the Berman Center. She is the PI for the NIA-funded longitudinal BRain IN Kidney Disease (BRINK) Study (2011) of the epidemiology of cognitive impairment in chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients, now in its eighth year, collaborating with scientists at the Mayo Clinic. Cumulatively her work has demonstrated that 70% of hemodialysis patients have moderate to severe cognitive impairment, that dialysis induces delirium, and that initiating dialysis is associated with four times increases risk of stroke during the first month of dialysis. Her BRINK study has also shown that non- dialysis patients with advanced CKD have an approximately 50% increased risk of memory problems and impaired judgement.
Dr. Murray was also the US Co-PI (with John McNeil, Monash University, Australia) for the NIH ASPirin in the Reduction of Events in the Elderly (ASPREE) clinical trial (2011-18). of low-dose daily aspirin in 19,000 healthy older persons in Australia and the US to see if aspirin might prolong dementia- and disability-free survival. The ASPREE results, published in three articles in the New England Journal of Medicine in September 2018, reported that aspirin did not prolong dementia- and disability-free survival, but was associated with a 40% increased risk of bleeding — mostly gastrointestinal- and that it did not decrease the risk of incident cardiovascular disease or cancer. These results informed the newly published AHA guidelines for the prevention of cardiovascular disease in 2019; i.e., for those 70 and older, aspirin is not recommended for primary prevention. Dr. Murray will continue as the US Co-PI for the 5 year ASPREEXT observational follow-on study, to study the legacy effects of aspirin on the same ASPREE outcomes, funded by NIA and NCI in April 2019.
From 2005- 2015 Dr. Murray was the Midwest PI for the Actions to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetics Memory in Diabetics (ACCORD) and ACCORDION-MIND), ancillary study to ACCORDION Follow-on Study, and in 2017 reported there were no legacy effects of intensive blood sugar, blood pressure and lipid treatment on cognitive function or brain MRI findings 4 years after the trial was halted. From 1999 – 2014, Dr. Murray was also an investigator with the National Institutes of Health- sponsored United States Renal Data System Coordinating Center at HHRI. She conducted annual analysis of geriatric renal-related diseases in the US for their Annual Data Report.
Dr. Murray also enjoys teaching future geriatricians, as a Faculty member of the Geriatric Fellowship Program at Hennepin Healthcare, the flagship acute care and teaching hospital of the University of Minnesota.
Top-doctor – Dr. Anne Murray’s extraordinary journey into gerontology has led her to remarkable discoveries that may help older adults tremendously – Minnesota Good Age Magazine, February 2017.
The Berman Center has been conducting major clinical trials on chronic disease outcomes for the past 50 years. Founded in 1966 by Dr. Reuben Berman, a pioneer in the field of cardiovascular clinical research, its primary mission is to empower the medical community to offer better patient care through research.
Selected publications:
- Murray AM, Tupper DE, Knopman DS, Gilbertson DT, Pederson SL, Li S, Smith GE, Hochhalter AK, Collins AJ, Kane RL. Cognitive impairment in hemodialysis patients is common. Neurology 2006;67:216-223.
- Murray AM, Seliger S, Lakshminarayan K, Herzog CA, Solid CA. Incidence of stroke associated with dialysis initiation in older patient J Am Soc Nephrol 2013;24:1166-1173 doi:10.1093/gerona/glw342. PubMed PMID: 28329340.
- Murray AM, Hsu FC, Williamson JD, Bryan RN, Gerstein HC, Sullivan MD, Miller ME, Leng I, Lovato LL, Launer LJ; Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes Follow-On Memory in Diabetes (ACCORDION MIND) Investigators. ACCORDION MIND: results of the observational extension of the ACCORD MIND randomised trial.Diabetologia. 2016 Oct 20. PubMed PMID: 27766347.
- Murray AM, Bell EJ, Tupper DE, Davey CS, Pederson SL, Amiot EM, Miley KM, McPherson L, Heubner BM, Gilbertson DT, Foley RN, Drawz PE, Slinin Y, Rossom RC, Lakshminarayan K, Vemuri P, Jack CR, Knopman DS. The Brain in Kidney Disease (BRINK) Cohort: Study Design and Baseline Cognitive Function. Am J Kidney Dis 2016 Apr;67(4):593-600. PMID: 26744128.
- McNeil JJ, Woods RL, Nelson MR, Reid CM, Kirpach B, Wolfe R, Storey E, Shah RC, Lockery JE, Tonkin AM, Newman AB, Williamson JD, Margolis KL, Ernst ME, Abhayaratna WP, Stocks N, Fitzgerald SM, Orchard SG, Trevaks RE, Beilin LJ, Donnan GA, Gibbs P, Johnston CI, Ryan J, Radziszewska B, Grimm R, Murray AM; ASPREE Investigator Group. Effect of Aspirin on Disability-free Survival in the Healthy Elderly. N Engl J Med. 2018 Oct 18;379(16):1499-1508. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa1800722. Epub 2018 Sep 16. PubMed PMID: 30221596.
Key Researcher
Anne Murray, MD, MSc, is a geriatrician, internist, and neuroepidemiologist at Hennepin Healthcare. Dr. Murray has been investigating the epidemiology of dementia and caring for dementia patients for more than 30 years, and for the past 15 years has focused on the epidemiology of cognitive impairment in older patients with kidney disease and diabetes. She is the Medical Director of the Berman Center for Clinical Outcomes and Research at Hennepin Healthcare Research Institute (HHRI) and Treasurer for HHRI. She is a Professor of Medicine and Adjunct Associate Professor of Neurology at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Murray is also the US PI for the NIA and NCI-sponsored ASPREE — ASPirin in Reducing Events in the Elderly- low-dose aspirin trial, and the ongoing observational follow-on ASPREE XT study. Dr. Murray also enjoys teaching future geriatricians as a Faculty member of the Geriatric Fellowship Program at Hennepin Healthcare, an acute care and teaching hospital for the University of Minnesota.