Nancy S. Wexler Young Investigator Prize

Sarah Hernandez, PhD, of University of California, receives the second Nancy S. Wexler Young Investigator Prize for her work to understand how connections between cells can affect permeability of the brain in Huntington’s disease.

Cells in the brain communicate with little antenna-like objects, called receptors, that stick off the cell to catch information. The information collected by these receptors is used to direct critical processes in the brain that are disrupted in HD. Dr. Hernandez’s previous work has shown that specific receptors, called integrins, are not functioning like they should, causing them to lose connections between cells that increase permeability of the brain. This proposal tests if correcting the dysfunction of integrins could improve the connections between these cells in the brain to ultimately help correct or compensate for symptoms associated with HD.

Osama Al-Dalahmah, MD, DPhil, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, receives the inaugural Nancy S. Wexler Young Investigator Prize for his project entitled, “Studying Huntington’s disease astrocytes in different parts of the brain: A regional study of the landscape of gene expression at the single cell level.”

Dr. Al-Dalahmah aims to discover ways to increase the brain’s ability to protect itself from damage in Huntington’s disease by studying the differences in gene expression between vulnerable brain areas that are severely affected in HD and more resilient regions. His emphasis is on astrocytes – the major support cells in the brain that nurture neurons and ensure their functioning. HD changes astrocytes in several ways – some may be beneficial and some deleterious. By looking at gene expression from thousands of cells in both vulnerable and resilient brain regions in adult onset and juvenile onset HD, Dr. Al-Dalahmah seeks to determine how astrocytes respond to damage caused by HD. This knowledge will provide insight into the earliest gene expression changes in HD. Knowing how to adapt the brain’s capacity to protect itself from the damage dealt to it by HD is critical for the development of new therapies.