James R. Carter Sr. Memorial Awards support Alzheimer’s and dementia research
By studying how mitochondria support neuronal function important for memory formation and how the brain’s blood vessels respond to changes in blood flow and oxygenation, Mikel Cawley and Hanaa Abdelazim hope to advance research into degenerative brain diseases.
Mikel Cawley (at left) and Hanaa Abdelazim, doctoral students in the Translational Biology, Medicine, and Health Graduate Program, are taking different approaches to researching degenerative brain diseases. They each received a James R. Carter Sr. Memorial Award to support research into Alzheimer’s and dementia. Photo by Clayton Metz for Virginia Tech.
For Mikel Cawley, biomedical research is personal. She was driven to focus on human neurodegenerative disorders because of a grandfather’s long battle with Parkinson’s disease and a grandmother’s recent diagnosis of dementia.
“The successful development of new drugs or implementation of medical devices to treat brain disorders would impact millions of patients and families living with neurodegenerative diseases, including my own,” Cawley said.
Cawley and Hanaa Abdelazim, doctoral students in Virginia Tech’s Translational Biology, Medicine, and Health Graduate Program, were recently chosen to receive fellowships to advance their neuroscience research.
The awards were funded through Swing It to End It Inc., an annual golf tournament Annette Carter started in memory of her late husband, James R. Carter Sr. Proceeds from the tournament support Alzheimer’s disease and dementia research, education, and caregiver support in the Roanoke Valley.
Alzheimer’s is a progressive brain disorder and the sixth leading cause of death in the United States. According to the National Institutes of Health, it affects as many as 5.8 million Americans 65 and older.
Cawley conducts research in the lab of Shannon Farris, assistant professor at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC whose research focuses on understanding the molecular basis of memory. Under Farris’ mentorship, Cawley is working to better understand how mitochondria contribute to shaping neural circuits to support memory formation.
“Our memories shape who we are, which is why it is so devastating when diseases such as Alzheimer’s strips them away,” said Farris, who nominated Cawley for the award. “In order to advance new treatment options for memory disorders, we need to understand the underlying neurobiology.”
In John Chappell’s lab, which focuses on the molecular characteristics of blood vessels, Abdelazim is taking a different approach. She is using high-resolution imaging techniques to better understand how the brain’s blood vessels respond to changes in blood flow and oxygenation. Chappell is associate professor at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute.
Chappell said Abdelazim’s research has already contributed invaluable data toward the study of soluble PDGFRβ, a protein abundant in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients that appears to increase with low oxygen. “Hanaa’s rigorous studies are building our fundamental understanding of how elevated levels of this protein might affect the neurovasculature, and in turn contribute to the onset and progression of Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative conditions,” Chappell said.
The James R. Carter Sr. awards support two $10,000 neuroscience fellowships on the Health Sciences and Technology campus in Roanoke for graduate students conducting doctoral research mentored by the institute’s primary faculty. Carter, a Marine veteran and Bedford County resident, was the owner of Carter’s Storage Center Inc. and served on the Bedford County Planning Commission.
