For progress in translational neuroscience research to lead to the development of effective therapies, there must be a concerted effort to integrate bioengineering and other physical science disciplines into the realm of translational neuroscience. Nowhere is the need greater for application of physical science approaches to neurotherapeutics research than in facing the challenge of achieving high-level delivery of small molecules and biologicals across the blood-brain barrier to the CNS. While small molecules can be tailored by medicinal chemists to penetrate the blood-brain barrier efficiently based upon the inclusion of certain chemical features and group modifications, a more vexing challenge is the problem of delivering biological agents to the CNS. Because of stunning advances in genome editing, powerful techniques are emerging to treat a wide range of diseases, but these approaches are mostly limited to disorders involving the hematopoietic system or liver. If we are ever to reap the benefits of genome editing as a treatment for neurological and neurodegenerative diseases, then we must tackle the problem of how to deliver biological agents efficiently across the blood-brain barrier.
We have released requests for applications (RFAs) soliciting MPI applications for seed funding for projects led by a team including at least one faculty PI from:
UCI School of Medicine(SOM)/School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences(SPPS)/School of Biological Sciences(SOBS)
AND
School of Engineering(SOE)/School of Physical Sciences(SOPS)
We anticipate our next request for applications (RFA) will be available in 2025 to fund up to two projects