# Novel genetic screen for increased late-life neuronal health

> **NIH NIH R21** · UNIVERSITY OF OREGON · 2020 · $405,625

## Abstract

Extending recent advances in healthy aging to include the brain is one of the top challenges in medicine today.
Currently, one in ten people over 65 years of age has Alzheimer's Disease, 32% of those over 85, with an
associated healthcare burden of nearly $260 billion per year. These numbers are expected to rise dramatically
over the next decade as people continue to live longer and longer. Yet there is currently no prospect for rapid
improvement in this emerging healthcare crisis. Although the symptoms and bioindicators of dementia are
becoming clearer, a means of treating the root cause of the disease remains completely unknown. This
proposal takes a radically different approach to attacking this problem by searching for mutations that help
keep young brains stay healthier longer rather than trying to treat the disease after it has already progressed.
This will be accomplished using novel genome editing approach to engineer high-throughput screens in the
model nematode C. elegans so as to identify mutations that allow individuals to maintain proper neuronal
function and learning-ability late in life. The most innovative feature of this approach is that we will focus on
neurological and behavioral function of male C. elegans, which have heretofore been largely ignored in aging
research. The major contribution of this research will be the generation of unique collection of strains that that
contain mutations that help promote enhanced neuronal function late in life. Specifically, we aim to (1) use our
knowledge of the C. elegans sex determination system to create very large male-only populations and to then
use these populations to screen for mutations that lead to enhanced behavior function late in life, and (2)
create a new paradigm for investigating late-life associative learning of mate attraction in males. This project
will use innovative microfluidic approaches to generate and assay the behavioral components, as well as
developing unique genetic resources that will allow the molecular pathways responsible for the maintenance of
neuronal health throughout aging.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9877825
- **Project number:** 1R21AG066051-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF OREGON
- **Principal Investigator:** Patrick C. Phillips
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $405,625
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-05-15 → 2023-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9877825

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9877825, Novel genetic screen for increased late-life neuronal health (1R21AG066051-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9877825. Licensed CC0.

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