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Grant to U of L aids in developing new treatments for Alzheimer’s disease

A researcher from the University of Lethbridge and two from Laval University in Quebec have received a grant to help in developing new treatments for Alzheimer’s disease.

The nearly $1 million, being provided over three years from the Weston Brain Institute, will be used to test out a promising drug target.

If successful, the research could lead to new treatments to prevent the onset of Alzheimer’s symptoms, delay progression of the disease, or even restore normal function after symptoms have appeared.

The U of L’s Dr. Majid Mohajerani says new treatments for Alzheimer’s are critically needed, especially ones which alter the course of the disease.

“Alzheimer’s disease has an enormous impact on patients, the health-care system and society. This is only anticipated to get worse as the population ages. Current treatments for Alzheimer’s disease only address some of the symptoms. They do not prevent or alter the course of the disease,” says Mohajerani.

This grant is the first for the U of L from the Weston Brain Institute.

Using genetically modified mice that model Alzheimer’s disease pathology and symptoms, the project aims to accelerate the development of therapeutics for Alzheimer’s disease by testing how altering potassium chloride co-transporter 2 (KCC2) function affects brain activity and behaviour during disease progression in living animals. If successful, this research would implicate KCC2 as an entirely new drug target for mitigating Alzheimer’s disease.

(With files from U of L news release)

Patrick Siedlecki
Patrick Siedlecki
Pat has been a mainstay in the CJOC News department from the time the station launched in 2007. He's been in the position of News Director since then and has been anchoring daily news casts as well as reporting and working behind the scenes. Community is important to him and keeping CJOC listeners and readers informed about what's happening across southern Alberta and beyond. Pat has been in radio broadcasting for the past 24 years, starting in Port Alberni on Vancouver Island in 1997 and then moving up island to Nanaimo for another few years before heading to Lethbridge in 2007. Pat grew up in the small Saskatchewan farming town of Foam Lake. After high school, he went to Western Academy Broadcasting College (WABC) in Saskatoon prior to moving to the island. Pat also spent several years broadcasting hockey in the BCHL as well as seven years as the radio voice of the Lethbridge Hurricanes in the WHL. Pat has been working at Cornerstone Funeral Home in Lethbridge as a Certified Life Celebrant and Funeral Assistant since 2016. News and sports have always been Pat's passion from the time he was a teenager and he's always been grateful to have had the opportunity to make that part of what's been a fun and long radio career!
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