NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASES
Over 65 million people worldwide suffer from a neurodegenerative disease like Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, or ALS. As cognitive and physical functions decline, these devastating diseases have a severe impact on patients’ lives. Although there are hundreds of neurodegenerative diseases, there are few treatments and no cures. Rick Myers, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer, and Faculty Investigator, M. A. Loya Chair in Genomics and President Emeritus and Nick Cochran, PhD, Faculty Investigator , are making progress toward under- standing genetic risk factors associated with these diseases, improving diagnostic and disease progression monitoring, and identifying targets for potential new treatments. THE MEMORY & MOBILITY PROGRAM SUSTAINS LIFE-CHANGING RESEARCH Philanthropic support for the Memory and Mobility (M&M) Program powers research on biomarkers that improve diagnosis for ALS and Parkinson’s disease, the identification of previously unknown genetic risk factors, and the discovery of new therapeutic pathways.
IMPORTANT DISCOVERIES IN ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE Researchers in the Myers lab harnessed cutting-edge single-cell technologies to identify regions of the human genome that control protein production in brain cells like neurons and microglia, which are affected by Alzheimer’s disease.
Rick Myers, PhD
The M&M Program , combined with generous support from the ALS Association, has allowed the Myers lab to collaborate with Crestwood Medical Center’s ALS Care Clinic and launch a project to uncover biomarkers linked to ALS. By using cutting-edge technology to analyze samples from ALS patients in Alabama, the team is getting closer to improving early ALS diagnosis. The team identified several genetic regions that may play a role in Alzheimer’s disease initiation and progression. Further research on the newly identified genes could uncover new information that will help illuminate how Alzheimer’s disease progresses. Cochran and his lab continued their work as part of an international research team to analyze the genomes of 340 people from a family in Antioquia, Columbia, known to develop Alzheimer’s disease in their early 40s. The study looks at the genetics behind the age of disease onset. The Cochran lab success- fully identified several new genes that are likely involved, showing that genetics potentially plays a role in determining the age at which patients develop Alzheimer’s disease.
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