Programs

• Serotonin Receptors and Parkinson’s Disease
• Twum Ansah, Ph.D., Meharry Medical College
• Ariel Deutch, Ph.D., Vanderbilt University

 This study tests the novel hypothesis that specific pharmacological alterations in striatal serotonin receptor activation may restore motor function in Parkinson’s disease with less devastating side-effects than the current therapeutic approaches.

• Role of CXCR2 in beta-Amyloid Induced Neurodegeneration
• Guo-Huang Fan, Ph.D., Meharry Medical College
• Lee Limbird, Ph.D., Meharry Medical College
• Ann Richmond, Vanderbilt University

This study seeks to understand the mechanisms by which chemokines produced by reative glial cells cease to protect neurons during degenerative changes in the central nervous system.  The hypothesis is that chemokine receptors in the inflamed CNS become constitutively desensitized due to the over-stimulation of the receptors by the excessive chemokines  and excitatory amino acids produced by the activated astrocytes and microglial cells, thus resulting in attenuation of the chemokine receptor-mediated neuron-protection in pathological states such as Alzheimer’s disease.

• Environmental Ah Receptor Agonists and Cognition
• Darryl Hood, Ph.D., Meharry Medical College
• Ford Ebner, Ph.D., Vanderbilt Unversity

The fundamental premise of this study is that environmental contaminants within the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon and halogenated aromatic hydrocarbon class cross the placenta and expose the fetus thereby compromising brain development. Thus, the study seeks to understand the mechanisms which individuals residing, working or playing in close proximity to past or present environmental polluters may lead to impaired learning and memory in the offsprings.