Byrd Institute welcomes Dr. Bradlee Heckmann, PhD, Assistant Professor of Molecular Medicine and Byrd investigator. Dr. Heckmann received his PhD from the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and postdoctoral training from world-renowned researcher Dr. Douglas Green at St. Jude Children’s Hospital. Dr. Heckmann’s research focuses on the molecular and cellular mechanisms, as well as physiological influences that govern neuroimmunity. He recently discovered a non-canonical use of the autophagy machinery in a process called LC3-associated endocytosis. He further identified a role for this pathway in regulating neuroinflammation and in the prevention of amyloid deposition and neurodegeneration in Alzheimer’s disease. His work at USF Health and the Byrd Alzheimer’s Institute will continue to focus on understanding the non-canonical roles of the autophagy machinery and other mechanisms in regulating neuroinflammation. Cumulatively, Dr. Heckmann and his research program aim to further our understanding of how our brains are protected against neurodegeneration, and how to therapeutically target neurodegenerative diseases, infections, cancer, and beyond.

We are thrilled to announce the award of a $1.9 million National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant to co-PIs Dr. David Kang, PhD, and Dr. Alexa Woo, PhD. Dr. Kang is the Director of Basic Research at the Byrd Institute and Professor of Molecular Medicine. Dr. Woo, also a Byrd investigator, is an Assistant Professor in the department of Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology. The new project aims to understand how USP11, a multifunctional enzyme known to remove ubiquitin chains from proteins, contributes to tau tangle pathology in the development of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and related tauopathies. Over the next 5 years, this grant will allow them to determine if USP11 activity and associated mechanisms represent promising therapeutic targets to mitigate tau pathogenesis in AD.  [No text in field]

Chao Ma joined the PhD program in medical sciences at the Morsani college of medicine in 2015 and is now a PhD candidate in the neuroscience concentration. His research is on Alzheimer's disease and he currently works with Dr Dan Lee and Dr Paula Bickford in the the USF Neuroscience Institute. He is very proud to be awarded the Dorothy Benjamin Fellowship.  Click to read more about Chao's background, research projects and accomplishments. 

Yan Yan  joined the Integrated Biomedical Sciences PhD Program at USF Morsani College of Medicine in 2015. She is now a PhD Candidate and currently works in Dr. David Kang’s lab at the USF Health Byrd Institute, pursuing her research in Alzheimer's disease. Yan states it is her honor and privilege to receive the Dorothy Benjamin Graduate Fellowship in Alzheimer’s disease. Click to read about Yan's background, research projects and accomplishments. 

 The Byrd Institute announces the award of a $950,000 Veterans Affairs (VA) grant to Laura Blair, PhD an Assistant Professor of Molecular Medicine and a Byrd NSI Investigator. While the incidence of physical wounds has dropped in veterans, many soldiers are returning from deployment suffering from psychological wounds that manifest as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depressive disorder (MDD). The major goal of this 4-year study is to develop strategies to deplete the stress-associated protein FKBP51 while deepening the understanding of FKBP51 biology, with the long-range goal of enhancing the psychological resiliency of soldiers and veterans. Such efforts are also expected to help the general population suffering from stress-related neurological disorders that impair cognitive brain function. 

Byrd Institute welcomes Dr. Gopal Thinakaran, PhD, an internationally recognized Alzheimer’s disease researcher from the department of Neurobiology at the University of Chicago. Supported by $5.5 million in National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant funding, his research focuses on cutting-edge molecular and cellular processes underlying Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. At USF Health, Dr. Thinakaran will assume leadership roles as associate dean for neuroscience research, NSI associate director of research, and Bagnor Endowed Chair in Alzheimer’s Research. He will also serve as Professor of Molecular Medicine and Byrd Institute. 

We are excited to welcome Dr. Angele Parent, PhD, from the University of Chicago. She studies how the brain remembers and what goes wrong with memory storage mechanisms in neurodegenerative diseases, focusing on communication between nerve cells (synaptic transmission) and neuronal plasticity. She recently received a 5-year $1.75 million NIH grant to examine how changes in APP metabolism affect memory in sleep-disturbed Alzheimer’s models. Dr. Parent will serve as Associate Professor of Molecular Medicine and Byrd Institute.

The Byrd Institute announces the award of a $1.8 million National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant to Jung A (Alexa) Woo, PhD, an Assistant Professor of Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology and a Byrd Investigator. Dr. Woo’s grant focuses on beta-arrestins, which are proteins classically known to bind and modify the function of cell surface receptors called GPCRs. Over the next five years, this grant will allow her to investigate how beta-arrestins alter the tau tangle protein to mitigate the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), possibly leading to new AD therapies.

The April 2019 issue of the eNeuro Journal an official online scientific journal for the Society for Neuroscience, has featured an interview with Dr. Laura Blair, a Byrd investigator. In the interview, Dr. Blair talks about her recent publication in eNeuro describing the cellular and behavioral deficits in a transgenic mouse model in which the FKBP5 gene is overexpressed. Increased FKBP5 has been associated with several psychiatric disorders.  The interview goes on to describe her research philosophy and the focus of her laboratory. Full detailed transcript of the interview and paper can be found here.

Dr. Lianchun Wang  recently joined the Byrd Institute as a Professor of Molecular Pharmacology & Physiology. His research focuses on heparan sulfate (HS), a linear sugar present at the surface of cells and extracellular matrix. He has worked to understand the functions and related structures of HS in inflammation, blood vessel development, cancer, and stem cell biology. Dr. Wang’s research also extends to Alzheimer’s, with a focus on the aberrant expression of HS as a potential biomarker for the diagnosis and prognosis of the disease. This NIH-funded research examines the role of HS in the regulation of amyloid beta metabolism and neuroinflammation attributing to the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s.