Notre Dame receives Chan Zuckerberg Initiative award for neurodegenerative disease research
The University of Notre Dame has received a Collaborative Pairs Pilot Project Award from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative to study genes that affect neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease.
This is Notre Dame’s first award from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.
The award will fund a partnership between Cody Smith, the Elizabeth and Michael Gallagher Associate Professor of Biological Sciences at Notre Dame and a 2017 Alfred P. Sloan Fellow, and Beth Stevens, member of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and a 2015 MacArthur Fellow. With their combined expertise in neurological development, they will explore how gene expression and function changes with aging, allowing neurodegenerative diseases to occur.
“Instead of looking at an individual gene, our approach is to look at a suite of genes that work individually or together and decipher what their core function is,” Smith said. “By understanding their combined function we can get a better picture of what is happening in the brain and, eventually, why they enter disease states.”
Stevens’ team uses cutting-edge sequencing to identify multiple genes and how they are expressed at different ages. Her team will provide a list of genes to the Smith Lab, which will use advanced imaging approaches on a zebrafish model to analyze which genes are important for modifying microglia, or the cells that are responsible for regulating brain development and healing injured tissue. Stevens’ team will simultaneously analyze the genes in human microglia.
Together, the researchers will look at how those microglia shift into disease states and therefore may not work properly in defending the brain against neurodegenerative diseases.
“We don’t really know how specific risk genes change microglia function in disease. This collaborative project will allow us to develop new tools to track and manipulate microglia to better understand how genes relate to function and to identify conserved mechanistic pathways,” Stevens said.
The award will provide $200,000 over an 18-month period, and Smith and Stevens will also gain long-term access to the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Neurodegeneration Challenge Network. The network offers support, mentoring and collaborative interactions with researchers across a broad range of fields to foster collaboration for tackling neurodegenerative disease.
Contact: Brandi Wampler, associate director of media relations, 574-631-2632, brandiwampler@nd.edu
Latest ND NewsWire
- Notre Dame to host summit on AI, faith and human flourishing, introducing new DELTA frameworkThe Institute for Ethics and the Common Good and the Notre Dame Ethics Initiative will host the Notre Dame Summit on AI, Faith and Human Flourishing on the University’s campus from Monday, Sept. 22 through Thursday, Sept. 25. This event will draw together a dynamic, ecumenical group of educators, faith leaders, technologists, journalists, policymakers and young people who believe in the enduring relevance of Christian ethical thought in a world of powerful AI.
- Notre Dame Democracy Initiative hosts bipartisan conversation with Western state governorsTwo Western state governors known to work across the aisle on policy issues such as water, housing and energy will visit the University of Notre Dame for a fireside chat about how Western state pragmatism can serve as a model for the country to overcome polarization.
- In new research, Roy Scranton explores climate change and the limits of human progressIn his most recent book, “Impasse: Climate Change and the Limits of Progress,” Scranton, an associate professor of English, defines the impasse he sees as “not only political and institutional, but cognitive, existential and narrative” and asserts that the only path forward is through embracing what he terms ethical pessimism. “A lot of people confuse pessimism with nihilism, apathy and despair,” Scranton said. “But pessimism is actually about recognizing our limits, letting go of unrealistic goals, finding solidarity in the fact of human suffering and doing what you can now, not in some utopian future.
- Notre Dame MBA launches deferred admission programThe Notre Dame MBA Deferred Admission Program allows candidates with little or no work experience, including college seniors, to secure admission before reaching the recommended three years of work experience to enroll.
- ‘Prebunking’ false election claims may boost trust in electionsIn recent years, democracies worldwide have seen a growing erosion of trust in election outcomes and institutions, driven in part by fears of widespread fraud. New Notre Dame research finds that “prebunking” — providing accurate information before false claims spread — boosts trust in elections more effectively than traditional fact-checking.
- ND experts on the canonization of Carlo AcutisAs the Church awaits the ceremony in St. Peter’s Square, where Pope Leo XIV will formally declare Acutis a saint, University of Notre Dame experts Kathleen Sprows Cummings, Brett Robinson and Timothy O’Malley reflect on his life and his path to sainthood.
