How Cell Function Can Shed Light on Neurodegeneration with Vladimir Gelfand, PhD

The tiniest parts of the cell may provide new insights into challenging neurodegenerative diseases like amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). New research from Northwestern University has revealed a key mechanism underlying the development of motor neuron diseases, such as ALS, offering new insights into potential treatment options. This new finding published in the Journal of Neuroscience, comes from the lab of Vladimir Gelfand, PhD, and may help inform the treatment of ALS and other motor neuron diseases. 

One of the many ways the Human Longevity Laboratory at Feinberg is studying aging is through the lens of the retina. Manjot Gill, MD, a Northwestern Medicine retina specialist, explains the unique multi-disciplinary approach of the lab and how she is using AI in retinal imaging to predict biological age and help validate interventions that may slow aging. She is vice chair of clinical performance in the Department of Ophthalmology and Professor of  Ophthalmology and Medical Education.  

Brian Garibaldi, MD, the founding director of Northwestern Medicine's new Center for Bedside Medicine, discusses the importance and future of bedside medicine. A renowned pulmonologist and medical educator, Garibaldi addresses how modern technology can integrate with traditional clinical skills to improve diagnosis, deepen patient relationships and reduce physician burnout. He also explains how the new center aims to train the next generation of physicians to understand and embrace the power of the physical examination and the doctor-patient relationship.

Sachin Patel, MD, PhD, is the chair and Lizzie Gilman Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Feinberg and diretor of the Stephen M. Stahl Center for Psychiatric Neuroscience. In this episode, he talks about the current mental health crisis in this country, his research and vision for the department. Since this episode was originally released, Patel has published findings in the journal, Cell Reports, which uncovered new insights into the synaptic connections of subgroups of interneurons. These findings may improve the understanding of fear responses and could inform new targeted therapies for post-traumatic stress disorder.

Viral pneumonia can cause severe lung damage and make recovery long and life-threatening for patients. Current treatments only provide support, not repair, but Northwestern Medicine scientist Benjamin Singer, MD, wants to change that. In this episode, he details a recent discovery from his team that found laboratory-modified T-cells or induced regulatory T-cells (iTregs), can promote lung tissue repair in mice with severe influenza pneumonia. Singer discusses this breakthrough and how it could lead to an effective cellular therapy for patients with severe viral pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome in the future. 

We're resharing an episode from October 2022. How are habits – both good and bad – formed in the brain, and what role do habits play in diseases of the brain? These are some of the questions neuroscientist, Talia Lerner, PhD, is investigating in her lab. Her recent study, published in Cell Reports, may change the overall understanding of how habits are formed and could be broken.    Since this episode was first recorded in fall 2022, Lerner's team has published new research looking at sex differences. In a paper in Neuropsychopharmacology, her team discovered how novel sex-specific mechanisms control how stress hormones impact dopamine transmission and motivation. 

Uniting scientists and harnessing the power of the immune system to fight disease is at the heart of the Center for Human Immunobiology (CHI). Stephanie Eisenbarth, MD, PhD, leads the center, and she is also the chief of Allergy and Immunology in the Department of Medicine.   Since this episode was first recorded in fall 2022, Eisenbarth's team has launched a clinical trial to study a new treatment for food allergy. She has also brought together more than 150 trainees and faculty through the CHI. Here, she discusses the variety of immunology research taking place within the center and the continued work to discover and translate innovative science into cures for immune-related diseases. 

An experimental drug called NU-9 was invented at Northwestern University by Richard Silverman, PhD. It has been approved for clinical trials for the treatment of ALS and found to improves neuron health in animal models of Alzheimer's disease according to a new Northwestern Medicine study published in PNAS. This discovery is giving scientists hope that the drug could be effective in multiple neurodegenerative diseases by addressing the underlying mechanisms of these diseases. Silverman and Northwestern University Alzheimer disease expert, William Klein, PhD, discuss the potential of NU-9 in this episode.  

A Northwestern Medicine clinical trial led by Rod Passman, MD, could improve the way we care for millions of people with atrial fibrillation, but it is facing an unexpected challenge. There has been a pause in federal funding to Northwestern University that could impact this study's progress. While the trial has not been ordered to stop, all National Institutes of Health funding to Northwestern University has been frozen, raising questions about how long this potential life-saving work can go on without a resolution.  

Each year, more than 800,000 Americans suffer a heart attack and many of those who survive are left with irreversible scarring and the slow progression towards heart failure. In this episode, Edward Thorp, PhD, explains how his team is exploring immune cells that influence the heart's ability to heal after such injuries. In Thorp's lab, they are uncovering fundamental molecular mechanisms by which the immune system regulates wound repair, reduces inflammation and regenerates tissue.