Directory of funded grants

Development of a high throughput 3D microphysiologicalplatform for rapid automated assessment of human brain organoids response to drugs targeting neurological disorders

Project Overview

Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson’s disease (PD) are the most common and devastating neurological diseases, with over 750,000 AD patients and over 100,000 PD patients in Canada. Drug development remains a slow, expensive and inefficient process. The biopharmaceutical industries need alternative models that better predict the human response to drugs…

Disrupted SUMOylation facilitates rogue TDP-43 in ALS

Project Overview

Proteins are large molecules that play many essential roles in the body. They do most of the work inside cells and are necessary for the structure, function and regulation of all tissues and organs. TDP-43 is a protein that is usually found inside the cell nucleus. However, in most people…

Biological and Pathological relevance of hnRNP A1B; An alternative splice variant of TDP-43

Project Overview

In 97 per cent of ALS cases and nearly half of cases of frontotemporal dementia, the TDP-43 protein is misplaced to an area outside the cell nucleus of the motor neuron called the cytoplasm. The mislocated TDP-43 may be toxic to motor neurons because it aggregates in the cytoplasm, or…

Validation of small molecules preventing TDP-43 aggregation as a therapeutic for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

Project Overview

TDP-43 is a protein that behaves abnormally in the motor neurons of 97 per cent of people with ALS. It is usually found in the nucleus, but in people with ALS, it becomes trapped outside in the cytoplasm where it forms aggregates. One theory is that these aggregates are toxic…

2019 Turnbull-Tator Award in Spinal Cord Injury and Concussion Research