Christian Naus receives $1.5 million grant for Alzeimer’s research
November 27, 2014
Christian Naus, professor in UBC’s Department of Cellular and Physiological Sciences and 2013-2014 Peter Wall Distinguished Scholar in Residence, has just received $1.5 million from the British Columbia Alzheimer’s Research Award Program.
His project, Improving the neighbourhood for brain cells in Alzheimer’s disease, will identify unique new drugs which will not only directly target neurons but also enhance the astrocytes’ abilities to protect neurons that are vulnerable to degeneration in Alzheimer’s.
He says the connections he made as a Distinguished Scholar through the Peter Wall Institute helped him develop the proposal for this award.
“I was able to gather experts from around the world for the first Canadian Colloquium on Gap Junctions and Disease, as well as host Christian Giaume as a Peter Wall International Visiting Research Scholar from the Collège de France, who is an expert in targeting glial connexin channels for the treatment of neurological disease,” says Dr. Naus.
“These opportunities helped us develop the Brain Canada proposal on gap junction channels, which will now lead to new research and treatments for Alzeimer’s Disease in BC and Canada.”
Naus is among two other UBC researchers and three other SFU researchers, who together, have received $7.5 million in research funding towards Alzeimer’s. The Alzheimer’s Research Award Program is a collaboration between Brain Canada, the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research (MSFHR), Genome British Columbia (Genome BC) and The Pacific Alzheimer Research Foundation (PARF).
Related People