Jeff Johnson, professor in the Pharmaceutical Sciences Division, has received two R01 grants from NIH to further his research in the areas of Lou Gehrig’s and Alzheimer’s Disease.

The first grant, a five year award, is focused on understanding how oxidative stress is involved in the progression of Lou Gehrig’s Disease (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, ALS). This includes experiments designed to identify novel therapeutic approaches for treatment of this disease through Nrf2 activation.

The second grant, a Dual-PI award with Regina Murphy, professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, will combine their expertise and be targeted at understanding how a protein called transthyretin can modulate the neuronal cell death induce by the Aβ, the major protein involved in causing Alzheimer’s Disease.