Researcher receives award to further neurodegenerative disease research
Researcher receives award to further neurodegenerative disease research
Xue-Jun Li, PhD, the Michael A. Werckle Endowed Professor of Biomedical Sciences in the University of Illinois College of Medicine Rockford’s Department of Biomedical Sciences, received a $25,000 award from the Chancellor’s Translational Research Initiative Fund for her research on selective HDAC6 inhibitors for Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) Disease in patient-specific stem-cell models.
CMT Disease is a group of inherited genetic disorders that cause peripheral nerve damage, leading to muscle weakness, atrophy and loss of sensation in the limbs. Dr. Li’s research team is investigating a class of drugs that could show promise in treating neurodegenerative disease like CMT.
In collaboration with Dr. Duncan Wardrop in the Department of Chemistry at UIC, Dr. Li’s research team is investigating a class of drugs that could show promise for treating neurodegenerative disease like CMT.
Through UIC’s Office of Technology Management, the Chancellor’s Translational Research Initiative Fund supports early-stage innovations that have strong commercialization potential by providing up to $25,000 per project to help advance these technologies toward licensing, startup formation and future translational funding.