What: Seeking a treatment for the movement disorder ataxia
Amount: $1 million
Harry Orr continues his long-term research on the causes and effective treatments of a progressive movement disorder. Spinocerebellar ataxia type 1 currently is untreatable and ultimately fatal. Orr, director of the Institute for Translational Neuroscience, and his team have identified a likely molecular target for development of a treatment. They will carry out tests to identify a drug in collaboration with Derek Hook and Michael Walters of the Institute for Therapeutics Discovery & Development in the College of Pharmacy.
Who: Karen Hsiao Ashe
What: Strategies to prevent Alzheimer’s disease
Amount: $369,833 (Two-year total, $746,460)
Alzheimer's disease researcher Karen Hsiao Ashe will continue her studies of this disease that impacts millions of people in America and the world. Recently, she has focused on the material that makes up Alzheimer's plaques. In this latest project, she will determine whether specific kinds of these plaque molecules appear early enough in Alzheimer's to become a target for therapies aimed at preventing the illness. This study will be carried out in collaboration with Srinand Sreevatsan, a University of Minnesota researcher exploring cutting-edge DNA-mediated detection of disease, and Ronald Petersen, a Mayo Clinic physician who has recruited a group of elderly patients.
Who: Michael Kyba, Rita Perlingeiro and John Day
What: Reprogramming patient cells to discover the causes of muscular dystrophy
Amount: $1 million (Two-year total, nearly $2 million)
The third most common type of muscular dystrophy is the target of a study by four experts, led by principal investigator Michael Kyba. The team also includes Minnesota scientists Rita Perlingeiroand John Day and Baylor College of Medicine’s Thomas Zwaka. While it is known what variation in the DNA causes this facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) it is not known how it causes the progressive, muscle-loss disease that affects 25,000 people in the United States. By removing cells from those with muscular dystrophy and re-programming them to become induced pluripotent or iPS cells, similar to embryonic stem cells, the team expects to gain new insights into the genetic basis of this form of muscular dystrophy and discover possible new cell therapies. The University provided pairing funds of $100,000 for a study by Kyba aimed at generating iPS cells under clinical conditions.
Who: Virginia Seybold
What: Seeking treatments for chronic pain
Amount: $26,437 (Two-year total, $37,000)
Neuroscientist Virginia Seybold received federal funding to continue her investigations into pain called hyperalgesia. This is the increased sensation of pain that follows injuries in certain individuals and, in others, causes chronic pain. Looking at nerve cells in the spine at a biochemical level, Seybold is testing whether signaling molecules released after injury in the spinal cord increase the transmission of pain signals to the brain. If she is correct, this may indicate a new therapy to treat chronic pain of this type.
Who: S. Hossein Fatemi
What: Investigating whether fetal exposure to flu virus causes schizophrenia
Amount: $87,714
A link between infection with the flu virus and subsequent rise in births of people who develop schizophrenia has been noticed. To investigate this data, S. Hossein Fatemi received funding to explore this possible link. He will study mouse fetuses exposed to flu virus and the brain changes that may indicate later development of schizophrenia. Results of the mouse model studies should provide clues that will lead to fundamental advances in our knowledge of how schizophrenia begins and, therefore, of how it can be prevented and treated.
Who: Michael K. Lee
What: Seeking new treatments for Parkinson’s disease
Amount: $509,357 (Two-year total, $892,838)
Brain scientist Michael Lee will study whether and how certain pesticides contribute to Parkinson’s disease. Parkinson’s disease is a lethal and common disease of nervous system, affecting people later in life and causing movement disorders including tremors and freezing. These symptoms become worse over time and patients eventually die from the disease. Parkinson’s disease affects about 1 million Americans annually. Lee and his team will determine how factors inside the body interact with toxins that invade the brain from outside the body to injure the cells and cause this nervous system disease.
The team’s findings will lead to better understanding of Parkinson’s disease and new targets for therapeutic intervention.
Who: Janet Dubinsky
What: Teacher-training programs on the neuroscience, the biology of drug abuse and how to do experiments in the classroom.
Amount: $267,964
Secondary-school teachers will have access to a new science curriculum through Changing Brains through Inquiry, Not Drugs project. This project is led by neuroscientist Janet Dubinsky, who will use this federal funding to train teachers. These teachers will then design and lead student-directed investigations into how drugs affect simple nervous system.
The project is supported by an online mentoring network, which will promote enhanced understanding and application of neuroscience and the biology of drug abuse into the secondary science curriculum in Minnesota.
Who: Michael Koob
What: Developing gene therapy for movement disorder and other diseases
Amount: $222,758
This federal funding continues the studies of genetic researcher Michael Koob and his team into a movement disorder called Friedreich’s ataxia. This form of ataxia is caused by a lack of a protein called frataxin. Frataxin is needed by cells’ power houses, called mitochondria. By developing ways to insert this missing protein into mitochondria, Koob and team hope to treat this disease and, potentially, others caused by mitochrondria mutations.
Who: Wei Chen
What: Developing novel neuroimaging techniques for studying brain function and dysfunction
Amount: $351,093
Imaging expert Wei Chen will use this federal funding to continue improving non-invasive techniques to view changes in a living brain. In the brain, he is examining metabolism and determining the amount of energy used to keep the body functioning. In this project, which will be conducted at the Center for Magnetic Resonance Research, he expects to advance both the magnetic-resonance imaging technology and discoveries about brain sciences.
Who: Laura Ranum
What: Molecular pathophysiology of myotonic dystrophy
Amount: $189,526
Myotonic dystrophy (DM) is a multisystemic disease and the most common form of muscular dystrophy in adults. While some of the molecular workings in muscles have been de-coded, involvement of the brain and the central nervous system is less well-understood.
Geneticist Laura Ranum with this federal funding continues her several-year research into the DNA and RNA changes that cause myotonic dystrophy.
Who: Robert Elde
What: What causes painful nerve conditions?
Amount: $203,848
Seeking greater understanding of causes of pain in the nerves directly underneath the skin, or peripheral neuropathies, is the goal of neuroscientist Robert Elde (who also is dean of the College of Biological Sciences). He will use this federal funding to analyze the interaction between two important structures in the transmission of sensory information: sensory nerves and the epidermis of the skin.
By investigating the nervous system signaling involved, Elde may learn how to manipulate these interactions. If successful, the study may contribute to a new therapeutic approach for this kind of pain.
Who: Lorene Lanier
What: Understanding how nervous system cells make connections
Amount: $107,302
With this federal funding, neuroscientist Lorene Lanier continues her several-year study of how nervous system cells (neurons) make connections. At the tips of neurons are “growth cones,” dynamic elements that extend the neuron into surrounding tissue during development. After injury, also growth cones also perform a key role in regenerating neurons.
Lanier and team seek to unlock the code of growth cone machinery, with implications for regeneration of neurons.
Who: George Wilcox
What: Can tolerance to opioid painkillers be avoided?
Amount: $226,500
Painkillers derived from morphine, termed opioids, are an effective treatment for chronic pain, but repeated use can result in tolerance to and physical dependence on the drugs. Seeking to improve relief for those with chronic pain, neuroscientist George Wilcox will analyze cellular-level signaling chemicals as morphine tolerance develops. He will examine these chemicals and how they activate or are suppressed in a rodent model of opioid tolerance.
If successful, these studies may contribute to the well-being of people with chronic pain.
Award amount reflects funding currently authorized for these projects. Some projects may receive additional funding.
Who: Janet Dubinsky 
Who: Michael Koob 
Who: Wei Chen 
Who: Laura Ranum 
Who: Robert Elde 
Who: Lorene Lanier 
Who: George Wilcox