Three University of British Columbia researchers are among the first to receive funding from the British Columbia Alzheimer’s Research Award Program.
▪ Neil Cashman, a professor in the Division of Neurology, will receive $1.5 million to further his lab’s recent discoveries in targeting toxic A-beta oligomers for use as diagnostics and therapeutics.
▪ James Johnson, an associate professor in the Department of Cellular and Physiological Sciences, will receive $1.05 million to explore the role of insulin production in dementia.
▪ Christian Naus, a professor in the Department of Cellular and Physiological Sciences, will receive $1.5 million to “improve the neighborhood for brain cells.” His team aims to identify unique new drugs that will not only directly target neurons but also enhance the ability of brain cells to protect neurons that are vulnerable to degeneration in Alzheimer’s.
The UBC three and two researchers from Simon Fraser University will receive more than $7 million from the award program created last year by Brain Canada, the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research, Genome B.C. and The Pacific Alzheimer Research Foundation.
Alzheimer’s disease is a fatal, progressive and degenerative condition that destroys brain cells. It is the most common form of dementia. Alzheimer’s accounts for 64 per cent of all dementia cases in Canada. In B.C. Alzheimer’s affects approximately 70,000 people.