Searching for Answers to Alzheimer’s
MED’s Benjamin Wolozin receives a $240,000 grant for research on Alzheimer’s disease.
Benjamin Wolozin, a School of Medicine professor of pharmacology, recently received a Memory Ride Grant from the Alzheimer’s Association for his research on the LRRK2 gene, which could lead to methods of preventing the disease.
The nearly $240,000 three-year grant is given to researchers whose work could have a significant impact on the search for preventive measures and cures for Alzheimer’s disease. Wolozin, who is also on the staff of BU’s Alzheimer’s Disease Center, was one of nine Massachusetts researchers awarded the grant.
Wolozin studies LRRK2, a gene active in the brain and other body tissues that provides instructions for making the protein dardarin. Mutations in LRRK2 are the most common genetic cause of Parkinson’s disease, and the prevalence of these mutations in people with Parkinson’s, combined with the relevance to multiple types of pathologies, emphasizes the importance of LRRK2, according to Wolozin.
“Studying this protein, dardarin, gives insight into the biological pathways that lead to the changes that occur in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s,” Wolozin says. “The goal of this grant is to understand the pathways through which LRRK2 acts.” Researchers can then identify chemicals that inhibit the pathways, which could lead to therapeutic drugs, he says.
“Everything you touch with this protein turns out to be interesting and significant,” he says, “and it touches all of the major players in the field.”
Rebecca McNamara can be reached at ramc@bu.edu.