Dementia, stroke and brain bleeds in babies research gains funding

University of Auckland researchers have received almost $1.9m to investigate promising therapies to treat a range of serious neurological illnesses and conditions.

The funding comes from the Neurological Foundation. The foundation supports neuroscientists nationally with total research funding of $3.4m. The Foundation’s CEO, Rich Easton, says, “This investment will benefit a wide range of New Zealanders, from the tiniest babies to our precious senior citizens. We are excited to back brilliant researchers as they seek answers to some of the most urgent questions in healthcare.”

University of Auckland researchers successful in gaining funding are:
Project grants

Nitrite - a promising new adjunct treatment for stroke, $300,000
Dr Fiona McBryde, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences
This project tests whether a simple, low-cost drug called nitrite can protect the brain during a stroke. The team will use animal models to see if nitrite improves blood flow and reduces damage, even when treatment is delayed. If effective, this approach could reduce long-term disability and help more people access treatment, especially those in rural communities.

Purification of directly reprogrammed human induced striatal precursors using microfluidic cell sorting to enhance cell replacement therapy for Huntington’s disease, $299,956
Professor Bronwen Connor, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences
This project aims to develop a new treatment for Huntington’s disease by creating healthy brain cells from a person’s own skin cells and making them suitable for cell replacement therapy. An animal model of Huntington’s will be used to test how well the cells survive and if they can repair damaged areas of the brain. 

Genetic engineering of iPSCs for actionable drug target validation, $299,907
Dr Daniel Conole and Dr Amy Smith, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences
Human brain immune cells are used to study a protein called GPNMB found at high levels in people with Alzheimer’s disease. Turning this protein on and off will show how it affects brain inflammation and cell damage. By understanding how GPNMB works, the team aims to uncover new ways to treat dementia.

Deferoxamine and IGF-1 for treating preterm intraventricular haemorrhage, $127,849
Dr Simerdeep Dhillon, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences
Premature babies can experience brain injury by bleeding in the brain. A sheep model that closely mimics human infants will test whether reducing harmful iron and adding growth factors can limit injury and support brain repair. 

Senior Research Fellowship – Brain injury at birth
Iron chelation therapy for preterm intraventricular haemorrhage, $341, 924
Dr Simerdeep Dhillon, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences
This fellowship will test the potential of a drug called deferoxamine to remove harmful iron from the brain and improve outcomes after a brain bleed, one of the most common and serious complications in babies born prematurely. The findings from this animal study will provide the basis for future clinical trials.

Philip Wrightson Fellowship – Postoperative delirium

Pre-strengthening the brain endothelial barrier to prevent postoperative delirium, $247,845
Dr James Hucklesby, Faculty of Science
Up to 40 percent of patients experience confusion and memory problems after surgery, a condition called postoperative delirium. This fellowship will use brain blood vessel cells grown in the lab to test how different medications protect them.

First Fellowship – Chronic traumatic encephalopathy and multiple sclerosis

Utilising spatial proteomics to investigate glial immunophenotypes in chronic traumatic encephalopathy and multiple sclerosis, $241,333
Dr Chelsie Osterman, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences
Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) and multiple sclerosis (MS) are often diagnosed at a younger age than other neurodegenerative diseases. The conditions share some remarkable similarities. This fellowship will use donated human brain tissue to examine whether there are common changes in the brain’s support cells in CTE and MS, potentially finding new ways to slow or prevent these diseases.

Small Project Grant – Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE)

Building a probabilistic CTE lesion atlas: an empirical guide for neuropathological and neuroimaging research, $20,000
Dr Christi Essex, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences
Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a progressive brain disease linked to repeated head injuries that can only be diagnosed after death. This project will use donated human brain tissue to map where CTE damage occurs and identify these patterns using MRI. This will support the development of brain scanning tools that could detect CTE during life.

Small Project Grant – Dementia

Resolving the 3D architecture of early neurodegenerative pathology in the intact human olfactory bulb, $20,000
Dr Blake Highet, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences
One of the first signs of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease is loss of smell, which can appear years before memory or movement problems. This project will use donated human brain tissue to create detailed 3D images of the olfactory bulb, the area of the brain that processes smell. Mapping this area involved in the earliest stages of dementia could help identify new approaches for earlier treatment or prevention.

Small Project Grant – Vascular dementia

Pre-eclampsia, a cause of vascular dementia in women, $19,980
Professor Larry Chamley, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences
Women who experience pre-eclampsia during pregnancy have a higher risk of vascular dementia later in life. Tiny particles from donated placentas will be tested in cell and animal models to see how they affect brain blood vessels and the blood-brain barrier. Understanding this link could identify new ways to prevent vascular dementia.

Small Project Grant – Huntington’s disease

Neuroprotective effect of LM22A-4 on directly reprogrammed human striatal precursor cells, $16,974
Dr Linh Nguyen, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences
Huntington’s disease causes a loss of brain cells due to the deficiency of an essential protein called BDNF. A new drug has been designed to copy the protective effects of BDNF. Brain cells will be grown from the skin cells of patients to test if this new drug can protect brain cells in Huntington’s.