# BLRD Research Career Scientist Award Application

> **NIH VA IK6** · OKLAHOMA CITY VA MEDICAL CENTER · 2024 · —

## Abstract

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a major public health concern. Veterans are at a higher risk for dementia late in life
due to in-service exposures and epidemiological factors. The goal of Dr. Galvan’s research is to understand the
molecular and biochemical alterations that cause AD, with a focus on those that link aging to AD and potentially
other dementias, and to identify interventions to prevent or treat AD. Advanced age is, by far, the greatest risk
factor for AD. A VA Merit-funded project (1I01 BX002211-01A2) in Dr. Galvan’s lab focused on the use of
rapamycin, the first drug that was experimentally proven to slow aging in mice, to treat and/or block progression of
AD. Dr. Galvan’s Merit-funded work led to the first clinical trial of rapamycin in Alzheimer’s disease and established
a novel area of research in the vascular etiology of AD by revealing novel mechanisms of vascular contributions to
cognitive impairment and dementia (VCID), an area of high relevance to Veterans’ health and of specific interest
for NIA and NINDS. Pathogenic tau protein is causally implicated in AD. Based on evidence for pathogenic tau
accumulation in vasculature of AD brain provided for the first time by Dr. Galvan’s team, a second VA Merit-funded
project in Dr. Galvan’s lab (5 I01 BX002211-06) will define mechanisms of pathogenic tau-induced brain vascular
dysfunction. Dr. Galvan’s studies are important for Veterans’ health because they will test immunotherapy targeting
pathogenic tau, that can be combined with immunotherapy targeting amyloid-beta, recently approved by the FDA,
to efficaciously treat AD. Molecular damage during aging leads to cellular senescence. Senescent astrocytes
accumulate in aging and are markedly increased in AD. Dr. Galvan’s laboratory showed, for the first time, that
pathogenic tau enters astrocytes, where it potently induces cellular senescence. Collaborative studies
(1RF1AG068283-01) of Dr. Galvan and Dr. Holly Van Remmen (OKC VA Health Care System, VAHCS) will
define mechanisms of pathogenic tau-induced astrocyte senescence, understand its contribution to AD etiology,
and test drugs that kill senescent cells and immunotherapy targeting pathogenic tau to treat AD. With her recent
move to OKC VAHSC and affiliated institution University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center (OUHSC), Dr.
Galvan expanded her established collaboration with Dr. Van Remmen and with Dr. Arlan Richardson (OKC
VAHSC) on the role of necroptosis in the activation of cellular senescence in brain in aging and AD. Dr. Galvan’s
move to OKC VAHCS promoted her established collaboration with Dr. Zoltan Ungvari (OUHSC) on brain
microvascular mechanisms of AD. Funded collaborative work of Dr. Galvan with Dr. Ungvari and with external
investigators Dr. Viviana Perez (OSU, now NIA) (1RF1AG057964) and Dr. Rakez Kayed (UTMB) provided first
evidence for pathogenic tau transmission to brain vascular endothelial cells, accumulation of pathogenic tau in
endothelial cells and endothelial ...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10881706
- **Project number:** 5IK6BX006026-03
- **Recipient organization:** OKLAHOMA CITY VA MEDICAL CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** Veronica Galvan
- **Activity code:** IK6 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** VA
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** —
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2022-04-01 → 2027-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10881706

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10881706, BLRD Research Career Scientist Award Application (5IK6BX006026-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10881706. Licensed CC0.

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