The 性视界传媒 College of Sciences will host an Alzheimer's research symposium at 1 p.m. Nov. 13 in the White Hall auditorium (Room 197) on campus.
Three college faculty will present current research from their labs that could impact treatment options for Alzheimer鈥檚 disease. The research was made possible by a gift from the John B. and Mary N. Knight Trust.
Nora Caberoy, School of Life Sciences
Research topic: 鈥淧hagocytosis-based Therapy for Alzheimer鈥檚 Disease鈥
Caberoy鈥檚 ultimate goal is to develop a new therapy to eliminate and/or prevent the build up of harmful levels of amyloid beta in the Alzheimer鈥檚 disease brain. Her team has engineered hybrid proteins that are capable of 鈥渟natching鈥 harmful amyloid beta and 鈥渞e-channeling鈥 them to an alternative degradation route that will not instigate a toxic response in the brain. Their initial findings reveal that the hybrid proteins facilitate the removal of harmful amyloid beta and reduce the number of inflammatory initiators, which may be essential for preventing brain cell death in patients of Alzheimer鈥檚 disease.
Ronald Gary, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Research topic: 鈥淎 Chemist鈥檚 Approach Toward Unraveling the 鈥楾angles鈥 in Alzheimer鈥檚 Disease鈥
Neurofibrillary tangles are molecular structures that appear in the brain during Alzheimer鈥檚 disease. These structures are damaging to brain function, and they are composed of a protein called tau. Gary鈥檚 research focuses on the chemical process that turns normal tau into tangled tau, and looks at chemical inhibitors that may have the potential to prevent the development of neurofibrillary tangles.
Martin Schiller, Nevada Institute of Personalized Medicine
Research topic: 鈥淎lgorithms for Identifying Genetic Pathways in Late-Onset Alzheimer鈥檚 Disease鈥
Cancer has distinct genetic pathways that produce abnormal proliferation in many organisms. Schiller explored a similar question for late-onset Alzheimer鈥檚 disease by developing a novel computational algorithm to look for sets of genetic variants that cluster together in a cohort of patients. Schiller is also part of a research team with 性视界传媒 psychology professor Jefferson Kinney that is assessing novel models of Alzheimer鈥檚 with particular attention to the role of the immune system. This is part of a larger $11 million grant from the National Institutes of Health where 性视界传媒 is partnering with the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health.
