William H. Frey II, PhD
Sr. Director of Neuroscience Research, Center for Memory & Aging

About

Overview/research interests: Intranasal delivery of therapeutics to treat and prevent brain damage from Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, stroke, traumatic brain injury, posttraumatic stress disorder, brain tumors and other brain disorders.

  • Developed noninvasive, intranasal method for bypassing the blood-brain barrier to target central nervous system therapeutic agents to the brain and spinal cord while reducing system exposure and unwanted side effects
  • Developed and patented intranasal insulin and showed that intranasal insulin improves memory in patients with Alzheimer’s disease
  • Developed and patented method using intranasal insulin to treat and protect against traumatic brain injury
  • Developed method using intranasal insulin to treat and protect against posttraumatic stress disorder
  • Developed and patented intranasal deferoxamine for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease, stroke, Parkinson’s disease, traumatic brain injury and other central nervous system disorders
  • Devel

Overview

geographic focus

  • Minnesota  State or Province
  • Affiliation

    positions

  • Sr. Director, Neuroscience Research Centers 1977 -
  • has collaborator

  • Hanson, Leah R., PhD  Senior Director, Neuroscience Research, and Senior Investigator, HealthPartners Institute
  • Publications While At HealthPartners

    selected publications

    Journal Article
  • Low-dose intranasal deferoxamine modulates memory, neuroinflammation, and the neuronal transcriptome in the streptozotocin rodent model of Alzheimer's disease
    Frontiers in Neuroscience. 2025
  • Intranasal insulin treatment partially corrects the altered gene expression profile in the hippocampus of developing rats with perinatal iron deficiency
    American Journal of Physiology: Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology. 2023
  • A non-invasive direct nose to brain drug delivery platform vs. invasive brain delivery approach: patient-centered care impact analysis
    Drug delivery. 2022
  • Intranasal delivery of nanoliposomal SN-38 for treatment of diffuse midline glioma
    Journal of Neurosurgery. 2022
  • Intranasal insulin attenuates the long-term adverse effects of neonatal hyperglycemia on the hippocampus in rats
    Developmental Neuroscience. 2022
  • Review
  • Brain glucose hypometabolism and iron accumulation in different brain regions in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases [review]
    Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland). 2022
  • Mechanisms of intranasal deferoxamine in neurodegenerative and neurovascular disease [review]
    Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland). 2021
  • Intranasal insulin: a treatment strategy for addiction [review]
    Neurotherapeutics. 2020
  • Oxytocin and migraine headache [review]
    Headache. 2017
  • Intranasal insulin as a treatment for Alzheimer's disease: a review of basic research and clinical evidence [review]
    CNS drugs. 2013
  • Document
  • Intranasal administration of deferoxamine for the prevention or treatment of stroke is hemodynamically safe compared to intravenous administration
    2007
  • Intranasal delivery bypasses the blood-brain barrier to target drugs to the CNS and reduce systemic exposure
    2007
  • Intranasal delivery bypasses the blood-brain barrier to target therapeutic agents to the central nervous system (CNS)
    2007
  • Intranasal delivery bypasses the blood-brain barrier to target therapeutic agents to the central nervous system (CNS) to treat Alzheimer's, stroke and other disorders
    2007
  • Intranasal delivery bypasses the blood-brain barrier to target therapeutics to the brain to improve memory in human adults and those with Alzheimer's disease and treat CNS (central nervous system) disorders in animal models
    2007
  • presentations

    Presentation
  • Alzheimer's research preview [presentation], Chestatee Regional Hospital
  • Beyond the basics of Alzheimer's; new treatments, approaches and research: intranasal insulin, drugs and adult stem cells by pass the blood-brain barrier to treat Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and other brain disorders [presentation], Keystone Senior Living; Lighthouse of Columbia Heights
  • Beyond the basics of Alzheimer's; new treatments, approaches and research: intranasal insulin, drugs and adult stem cells by pass the blood-brain barrier to treat Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and other brain disorders [presentation], Lyngblomsten
  • Beyond the basics of Alzheimer's; new treatments, approaches and research: intranasal insulin, drugs and adult stem cells by pass the blood-brain barrier to treat Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and other brain disorders [presentation], Augustana Care Facility
  • Current research [presentation], Covenant Communities
  • Contact

    full name

  • William H. Frey II, PhD
  • primary email

  • William.H.Frey@healthpartners.com
  • located in facility

    Geographic Focus

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