2024-2025 Pilot Research Program Recipients
Dr. Matthew Kelly, M.D., M.P.H,Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC
“Evaluation of the nasal probiotic candidate Dolosigranulum pigrum in an infant non-human primate model.” Respiratory tract infections are the leading infectious cause of death among children. Increasingly, the bacteria that inhabit the human upper respiratory tract – referred to as the microbiome – are recognized to influence the risk and severity of respiratory tract infections during children. In particular, these studies have demonstrated that an understudied bacterium, Dolosigranulum pigrum, is important for the maintenance of respiratory health. In this project, we will determine the safety and optimal dosing of this bacterium when administered as a nasal probiotic to infant rhesus macaques, providing data that will support future experiments to evaluate its effectiveness for respiratory infection prevention.
Dr. Allison Liu, M.D., Ph.D.,UC Davis School of Medicine, Davis, CA
“Discovering ocular biomarkers for the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease in a non-human primate model.” This study explores how changes in the retina may signal Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) in nonhuman primates. By comparing retinal images and brain tissue from older primates, we hope to find early warning signs of AD that are easy to detect by non-invasive eye imaging. If successful, this could lead to new ways for early accurate diagnosis of AD and ultimately help to develop measurements for treatment response monitoring for the disease.
Dr. Sergi Simó, Ph.D.,UC Davis School of Medicine, Davis, CA
“The role of posttranscriptional gene regulation during neocortical specification.” Neural progenitors in the neocortex give rise to the different classes of projection neurons and glia in a conserved order, but the molecular mechanism(s) coordinating cell fate determination with developmental time remains unknown. We hypothesize that a pathway involving miRNAs is responsible for controlling the changes in cortical progenitor competence and further propose a broad role for posttranscriptional regulation in cortical cell fate specification