Browse wide-ranging research at the frontiers of neuroscience supported by Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute grants, awards, and training fellowships.
Projects
Investigating severe traumatic brain injury using a novel human CSF cell-free mRNA gene panel
This team aims to be the first to study the cellular and molecular impact of traumatic brain injury by studying genetic material in human cerebrospinal fluid. This will help clinicians and researchers ID markers of brain resilience after injury, and ultimately improve treatment for severe TBI.
New tools, analytic methods and conceptual approaches for harnessing plasticity in the human brain
The neural prosthetics translational laboratory
StrokeCog
StrokeCog is focused on cognitive problems after stroke. The team leads a study aimed at identifying if neuroinflammation plays an important role in the development of post-stroke cognitive decline.
Real-time biosensors for measuring multiple neuromodulators
The goal of the project is to create a transformative sensor technology to measure complex forms of chemical communication in the living brain, in real time.
Neurodevelopment Initiative
Elucidating the development of the infant’s brain structure & function.
NeuroPlant Initiative
The NeuroPlant Initiative aims to leverage a botanical armamentarium to manipulate the brain — by building a pipeline to explore chemicals synthesized in plants as potential new treatments for neurological disease and as a window into the chemistry of the brain.
Predicting and promoting resilient brain aging trajectories
Using new animal models such as the African killifish, this team aims to develop approaches to predict individual brain aging trajectories early in life based on behaviors that can be modulated to promote healthy memory, executive function and processing speed as well as counter dementia.
Resilience to Synaptic Impairments in Neurodegenerative Disorders
This team will explore the idea that neurotoxic protein aggregates seen in neurodegenerative disorders act at the synaptic connections between cells, and that resilience against these disorders may come from natural synapse-supporting factors that could be transformed into new forms of therapy.
Preserving motor engrams in Parkinson's disease: Neural circuit and transcriptomic studies and strategies for resilient motor control
This team aims to better understand how Parkinson's disease attacks the brain's basic motor programs and to spawn novel therapies against the disease using gene-editing technology.
Mitochondrial DNA and Brain Resilience
This team proposes the first comprehensive study of how mitochondrial DNA is related to cognitive function and susceptibility to dementia in a diverse population of over 11,000 adults. The outcomes of this study will provide insight into possible racial disparities in brain health.
Sleep circuits in neurodegenerative disease and aging
This team plans to study whether changes in neurons in the midbrain that regulate sleep, wakefulness, and immunity could contribute to aging and neurodegeneration. If successful, this information could rescue deficits in sleep and restore a normal immune profile.
Defining the Subcellular Biology of Brain Aging and Neurodegeneration
This team plans to map how age-related dysfunction of cellular waste disposal in lysosomes could lead to neurodegenerative diseases, potentially laying the foundation for a map of organelle function in the brain.
Unlocking brain resilience with HDAC inhibition
This team aims to define a network of genes that contribute to stress resistance in neurons and identify how it could be activated to enhance brain resilience and protect against neurodegenerative disease.
Endocannabinoid metabolism as a driver of brain aging
This team aims to discover whether the brain’s endocannabinoid system is dysregulated during aging, triggering inflammation via molecules called prostaglandins. If so, a drug that decouples these systems might restore a youthful brain state and rescue cognitive function.
Characterizing the Genetic Architecture of Neuropathology with Machine Learning
This team will study the brains of individuals who lived past ninety with their cognitive function intact, using advanced tissue imaging and computer science to understand mechanisms of resilience that could slow neurodegeneration and preserve brain health.