MCLAUGHLIN RESEARCH INSTITUTE FOR BIOMEDICAL SCIENCES INC

DURING FISCAL YEAR 2024, THE INSTITUTE SCIENTISTS AND STAFF CONTINUED THEIR EFFORTS TO BETTER UNDERSTANDING THE CELLULAR AND MOLECULAR MECHANISMS OF NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASE PROCESSES THROUGH INNOVATIVE GENETIC APPROACHES IN MURINE MODELS WHILE EXPANDING THE PROGRAM OF TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH TO SUPPLEMENT TREATMENT ADVANCES AND EDUCATION THROUGH COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT WITH STUDENT INTERNSHIPS. THE RESEARCH FOCUSED LARGELY ON THE MECHANISMS BEHIND THE PROPAGATION OF PROTEIN MISFOLDING IN DISEASES SUCH AS FRONTOTEMPORAL DEMENTIA, ALZHEIMER'S AND PRION DISEASES, AS WELL AS NOVEL TREATMENT APPROACHES. SUCH WORK INCLUDED PARTNERSHIPS WITH UP TO 11 COLLABORATORS AND 20 PROJECTS AMONG INVESTIGATORS WITH PARTNERSHIPS EXTENDING NATIONALLY TO NEW YORK, MASSACHUSETTS, NORTH CAROLINA AND CALIFORNIA WHICH RESULTANT SUBAWARDS CONTRIBUTED TO $712,800 OF NIH GRANT FUND SUPPORT AND $307,000 IN RESEARCH CONTRACTS. EFFORTS CONTINUED TOWARDS UNDERSTANDING ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE WITH PARTNERS AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY AND WAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY; PRION DISEASES WITH PARTNERS AT THE BROAD AT HARVARD UNIVERSITY & PRION ALLIANCE. INVESTIGATORS CONTINUED CRITICAL WORK ON NOVEL TREATMENT DEVELOPMENT SCREENING THROUGH ONGOING COLLABORATION WITH PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES AND WELCOMED NEW COLLABORATIONS WITH LYDIAN ACCELERATOR & N-LOREM. THE INSTITUTE BEGAN NEW EFFORTS THROUGH NIH FUNDED GRANTS (AWARDED 2024) IN THE AMOUNT OF $2.9M/YEAR FOR FIVE YEARS TO LAUNCH THE NOVEL CENTER FOR INTEGRATED BIOMEDICAL AND RURAL HEALTH RESEARCH FOCUSED ON DISTRIBUTED RESEARCH SUPPORT FOR NEW INVESTIGATORS; $630,000/YEAR FOR FIVE YEARS OF NEUROINFLAMMATION IN ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE MODEL RESEARCH. ADDITIONAL NIH FUNDS THROUGH TRANSFER FROM CALPOLY AND DUKE UNIVERSITY SUPPORTED THE ONGOING INVESTIGATION OF TRANSCRIPTIONAL NETWORKS OF HUMAN PRIMORDIAL GERM CELLS WAS COMPLETED. A PORTION OF ARPA FUNDS, $150,000 WERE DISTRIBUTED TO THE INSTITUTE THROUGH MONTANA STATE AND CASCADE COUNTY PASSTHROUGH. THE INSTITUTE RECEIVED $1.02M IN CONTRIBUTIONS THAT INCLUDED $675,000 IN RESEARCH AND EDUCATION SUPPORT FROM AFFILIATE, TOURO UNIVERSITY. THESE FUNDS WERE UTILIZED TO SUPPORT ONGOING RESEARCH AS WELL AS FUNDAMENTAL INFRASTRUCTURE SUPPORT.