Mark Alkema, PhD, assistant professor of neurobiology (left), and Stephen C. Miller, PhD, associate professor of biochemistry & molecular pharmacology, will pursue an innovative global health and development research project funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
UMass Medical School has been awarded a Grand Challenges Explorations grant, an initiative funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Stephen C. Miller, PhD, associate professor of biochemistry & molecular pharmacology, and Mark Alkema, PhD, assistant professor of neurobiology, will pursue an innovative global health and development research project, titled “Delivery of Drugs into Parasitic Nematodes.”
Grand Challenges Explorations (GCE) funds individuals worldwide to explore ideas that can break the mold in solving persistent global health and development challenges. Dr. Miller and Dr. Alkema’s project is one of more than 50 Grand Challenges Explorations Round 10 grants announced on May 21 by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Neglected tropical diseases caused by parasitic nematodes (roundworms) affect more than a billion people worldwide. There are few options for the treatment and control of these debilitating diseases, which include elephantiasis and onchocerciasis, also known as river blindness. Existing treatments can have serious side effects and the development of resistance is an increasing cause for concern. Thus, there is a growing need for new drugs to combat these infections.
Many potential drugs that show selectivity for parasitic proteins in a test tube ultimately fail because they cannot breach the nematode’s natural defenses and enter the live organism. In this GCE Phase I grant, Miller and Alkema will research molecular scaffolds that can possibly evade these natural defenses and find their way into the nematodes. These scaffolds will be used to deliver novel inhibitors of invertebrate neurotransmitter synthesis into the parasite. It’s hoped that this new delivery method will result in potential new treatments for a number of tropical diseases.
For more information about Grand Challenges Explorations, visit: http://www.grandchallenges.org/Explorations/Pages/Introduction.aspx.
