In 2006, Dr. David Standaert was recruited from Harvard Medical School to found a new center for research on neurodegenerative diseases at UAB. The vision for this center was to support a group of scientists and physician/scientists working to understand the underlying mechanisms of these diseases and developing new therapeutic approaches. The explicitly translational nature of the new program was captured in its name, the Center for Neurodegeneration and Experimental Therapeutics (CNET). CNET was officially chartered by the Board of Trustees in February, 2007. In 2013, after Dr. Standaert had become chair of the neurology department, Dr. Erik Roberson and Dr. Andy West became co-directors of CNET, and since 2018 Dr. Roberson had led the center.
Active research projects address Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, frontotemporal dementia, dementia with Lewy bodies, progressive supranuclear palsy, corticobasal degeneration, Huntington's disease, multiple system atrophy, and ALS.