Skip to content
Project Directory
  • Français
Donate Now
  • Français
  • About
    • What We Do
    • EDI Action Plan
    • Leadership
    • Team
    • Annual Report
    • Publications
    • Careers
  • Brain Conditions
    • One Brain
    • ALS
    • Autism (ASD)
    • Brain Cancer
    • Brain Injury
    • Dementia
    • Epilepsy
    • Mental Illness
    • Multiple Sclerosis
    • Parkinson’s
    • Stroke
    • More
  • Research
    • Programs
    • Funding Opportunities
    • Program Partners
    • Announcements
  • Impact
    • Research Impact Stories
    • Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
    • Brain Health in Indigenous Communities
    • Women’s Brain Health
    • Mind Over Matter
  • How You Can Help
    • Ways to Give
    • Start a Fundraiser
    • Workplace Giving
    • The Great Minds

Funded Grants

Back to results

Investigation of microbiota mediated suppression of motor neuron degeneration in genetic models of ALS

Project Overview

Scientists have long wondered what the contribution of environment is to ALS and in recent years the idea that a combination of genetic susceptibility and environmental triggers has taken shape. Furthermore, one of the emerging areas of interest for environmental exposure is the gastrointestinal tract and how dietary exposures might influence our nervous system through something called the gut-brain axis. Dr. Alex Parker is an expert on studying the biology of tiny worms called C. elegans, including using them as animal models to understand ALS and screen for potential treatments. When worms are altered to have a mutant gene -that causes ALS in humans, they get motor neuron degeneration and paralysis. Through a partnership with a company aimed at studying fat accumulation when worms were exposed to probiotics (helpful bacteria, as in certain yogurts, that are considered healthy for your digestive system) in their food, Dr. Parker serendipitously discovered that feeding the worms some of these probiotics also slowed down progression of symptoms in ALS worms. In this Discovery Grant, Dr. Parker will more closely examine how this neuroprotection occurs and what the underlying biology is that explains the effect. Understanding how dietary probiotics might alter cellular mechanisms in worm that may be protective in ALS may not only tell us more about the disease and the influence of environmental factors, but may also reveal information about the potential for interesting new types of experimental treatments.

Principal Investigator

Alex Parker , Centre hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal

Partners and Donors

ALS Society of Canada

Project Complete

Investigation of microbiota mediated suppression of motor neuron degeneration in genetic models of ALS

  • Grant Type

    Team grants

  • Area of research

    Neurodegeneration

  • Disease Area

    ALS

  • Competition

    ALS Canada - Brain Canada Discovery Grants

  • Province

    Québec

  • Start Date

    2017

  • Total Grant Amount

    $100,000

  • Health Canada Contribution

    $50,000

Contact Us

1200 McGill College Avenue
Suite 1600, Montreal, Quebec
H3B 4G7

+1 (514) 989-2989 info@braincanada.ca

Please note all online donations will receive an electronic tax receipt, issued by Brain Canada Foundation.

Our Donors

Playing with Marbles Podcast

Join us and take a journey to the real last great frontier – the brain.

Listen

Subscribe to Brain News

Receive our monthly electronic newsletter with updates on funded projects, upcoming events and breakthroughs in brain research.

Sign Up

Territorial acknowledgement

The offices of Brain Canada Foundation are located on the traditional, ancestral territory of the Kanien'kehá:ka Peoples, a place which has long served as a site of meeting and exchange amongst nations. We honour and pay respect to elders past, present and emerging, and dedicate ourselves to moving forward in the spirit of partnership, collaboration, and reconciliation. In our work, we focus our efforts on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action, particularly those that pertain to improving health for Indigenous Peoples and that focus on advancing our own learning on Indigenous issues.

© 2025 Brain Canada Foundation

Registration number: 89105 2094 RR0001

  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy

Design by Field Trip & Co