Publications & Awards

Research from the Institute for Translational Neuroscience has been the subject of many publications and awards. This page continues a list of these prestigious recognitions. 

Publications

Awards

The members of the Institute for Translational Neuroscience are highly respected and celebrated individuals. Below is a brief selection of recent awards these members have received.

New Grants Awarded

• Dr. Ariel (Department of Pharmacology and Physiology) and his colleague Dan Warren(Department of Biology) were recently awarded a three-year, $700,000 grant fromthe National Science Foundation to study how a turtle’s brain can survive withoutoxygen. The broader aim of the work is to reveal the basic requirements for avertebrate neuron to survive without oxygen in hopes of identifying novel therapeuticinterventions to prevent injury following strokes and heart attacks in humans. Dr. Damsgaard from Aarhus at the University in Denmark also collaborate on this project.
• Dr. Butler, Professor of Pharmacology and Physiology, was awarded a two-year $416,625 grant by the National Institute of Aging titled ‘An investigation of theresponse of preclinical mouse models of dementia to adropin therapy’ (R21AG083451). Aging increases risk for cognitive decline due to neurodegenerativediseases, of which Alzheimer’s disease is most common. Working with Dr. Susan Farr,the goals of this award are to test the efficacy of a small, soluble peptide inprotecting the brain and cognitive functions in a mouse model of accelerated aging.The award will also determine whether loss of the peptide accelerates aging-relatedcognitive decline. This work will define the pathways through which this peptidepreserves brain function in aging and could lead to a new therapy for treatingAlzheimer’s disease. Other members of the team include Dr. Aubin Moutal and Dr. Geetika Aggarwal.
• Dr. Butler, Professor of Pharmacology and Physiology, was awarded a two-year $416,625 grant by the National Institute of Aging titled ‘Methods for treating aging-related cognitive decline and reducing risk of AD/ADRD by enhancing the endogenous expression of adropin’ (R21 AG087308). The investigators of this award recently reported community-dwelling adults with low levels of the secreted peptide adropin
  have increased risk of cognitive decline. Working with Dr. Andrew Nguyen, this funding will identify methods that induce long-term increases in the expression of the endogenous adropin protein. The long-term objective of this project is to determine whether 3- to 6-monthly injections of a long-acting drug are effective at preserving cognition in aging. Other members of the team include Dr. Susan Farr, Dr. Geetika
  Aggarwal, and Ms. Denise Smith.
• Dr. Chakraborty, from the Department of Pharmacology and Physiology, has been awarded a four-year MPI-R01 grant 1R01DK137824-01 (2024–2028, total $2,543,391.00). Dr. Chakraborty’s group has discovered that the inositol pyrophosphate biosynthetic enzyme IP6K1 is a potential target in obesity and NAFLD/NASH. The grant titled, " Developing IP6K1 inhibitors to treat NAFLD/NASH", will allow the team to develop potent and selective IP6K1 inhibitors and to test their efficacies in these diseases. Other members of the team are Brent Tetri, M.D., Danielle Carpenter, M.D., Vineet Babu, Ph.D., Nagalakshmi Challa, Ph.D. and Molee Chakraborty, M.S. from Saint Louis University and Dr. Xiaodong Wang and her group from The University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.
• Dr Francois-Moutal, research assistant professor of Pharmacology and Physiology, was awarded a two-year $416,625 grant by the National Institute of neurological disorders and stroke title “Unraveling how neuropathic pain synaptic transcriptome is signaled by G-quadruplex folds” (R21 NS137054). This funding aims to examine the changes in the synaptic transcriptome of the primary-secondary sensory afferents structure occurring in the spinal cord during synaptic gain of function in neuropathic pain at different time points and different sex. Completion of this work will yield a comprehensive map of the transcriptomic changes that occur in the synapse during neuropathic pain and examine the factors that contribute to this highly polarized transcriptomic population. Other members of the team include Dr. Aubin Moutal.
• Drs. Salvemini and Walker from the Department of Pharmacology and Physiology and Dr Arnatt from the Department of Chemistry have been awarded a two-year MPI- R61 grant 1R61NS138976-01 (2024–2026, total $1,511,970) titled, "Development of selective GPR34 antagonists for the treatment of neuropathic pain". Neuropathic pain affects over 15-20 million people in the US and poses a major socioeconomic burden. These conditions are exceedingly difficult to treat. Currently available drugs offer little relief and have many side effects. Novel non-narcotics are desperately needed. Our work identified GPR34 as a non-opioid based target for therapeutic intervention with GPR34 antagonists. Our proposed studies will test the hypothesis that the analgesic actions of GPR34 antagonists result from attenuating MAPK in microglia and will identify CNS-penetrant GPR34 compounds. Results from our studies are anticipated to develop a strong biological rationale and establish a multidisciplinary team and infrastructure to develop highly selective GPR34 antagonists to enable future drug discovery and development efforts through the U19 mechanism. Other members of the team are Drs Doyle, Moutal and Kinthada and Ms Galen (Department of Pharmacology and Physiology), Dr Kafaie (Department of Neurology) and Dr Farr (Department of Internal Medicine).
• Dr. Salvemini, from the Department of Pharmacology and Physiology, has been awarded a five-year MPI-R01 grant 1R01NS138127-01 (2024–2029, total $2,885,025) titled, " Molecular basis for functional S1PR1 antagonists in the treatment of comorbid migraine and temporomandibular disorders". Overlapping pain conditions greatly exacerbate patients’ pain experience. This includes comorbid migraine and temporomandibular disorders, which is associated with a reciprocal increase in their prevalence/severity, increased risk of chronification, negatively impacting therapeutic outcomes. This underscores this comorbidity as a significant public health concern. However, little is known of its underlying pathobiology. Our proposed studies address this gap in knowledge and are anticipated to provide foundational insights into S1PR1 and inflammasome signaling in the development of this chronic co-morbidity, validating S1PR1 as a target, with functional S1PR1 antagonists as a unique monotherapy approach for intervention, with the advantage that they are already FDA-approved for other indications. Other members of the team are Dr Doyle and Ms Galen from Saint Louis University and MPIs Drs. Simon Akerman and Marcela Romero-
  Reyes from the University of Baltimore.
• Dr Salvemini, Ph.D., from the Department of Pharmacology and Physiology in collaboration with Stephanie Geisler M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of neurology at Washington University in St. Louis have been awarded an ICTS/CTRFP grant award of $50,000. The grant “Sphingolipidomics to identify small fiber neuropathy endotypes” will examine whether sphingolipids can be used as biomarkers to identify subgroups of patients with small fiber neuropathy, which may lead to the development of personalized, targeted therapies. There currently are no effective treatments for small fiber neuropathy.
• Dr. Yosten, Professor of Pharmacology and Physiology, was awarded an 18-month $162,000 grant from the Foundation of Prader Willi Research titled “Spatial Molecular Imaging of the Human PWS Hypothalamus” (1243623). Working with Drs. Grant Kolar and
  Willis Samson, this funding will allow for the investigation of spatial molecular profiles of cells of the hypothalamus using tissues from donors with Prader Willi Syndrome and matched control donors. The long-term objective of this study is to evaluate how spatially-driven interactions between the different cell types within the hypothalamus might contribute to the pathogenesis and symptomology of Prader Willi Syndrome, which could, hopefully, lead to the identification of novel therapeutic targets to ameliorate the unrelenting hunger experienced by patients with Prader Willi Syndrome. Ms. Megan Pater, a graduate student in Pharmacology and Physiology, and an expert in spatial molecular
  imaging, will play an instrumental role in this study.
• Dr. Yosten, Professor of Pharmacology and Physiology, was awarded a 1-year $60,156 grant from the Foundation of Prader Willi Research titled “Evaluate Ultrastructure of Hypothalamic Tissues from Mouse and Rat Models of PWS and Human PWS Donors” (1314260). Working with Drs. Grant Kolar and Willis Samson, this project will investigate how deficiency of the MAGEL2 gene, which exhibits impaired expression in the setting of Prader Willi Syndrome, impacts secretory granule structure and function. The long term objective of this study is to determine whether impairments in secretory granule trafficking underly the phenotypes associated with Prader Willi Syndrome and other
  syndromes with MAGEL2 deficiency. Ms. Colleen Bocke will play an instrumental role in the study.