UCI launches Center for Neurotherapeutics to facilitate drug discovery and therapy delivery

UCI has launched a Center for Neurotherapeutics to facilitate drug discovery for neurological diseases. It’s led by Dr. Albert LaSpada, Distinguished Professor of pathology, neurology and biological chemistry, as well as associate dean for research development at the UCI School of Medicine; and Robert Spitale, professor and associate dean of research at the UCI School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences. The center will focus on building a drug discovery unit and therapy delivery program to support research aimed at uncovering new medicines to treat neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Huntington’s, along with muscular dystrophies and motor neuron disorders. “We are incredibly excited to create a program that will enable researchers from a variety of disciplines to come together with the goal of advancing scientific discoveries made at UCI into transformative therapies for conditions that, for the most part, are currently untreatable,” LaSpada said. At the center, researchers will be assisted in developing screening methodologies and chemical analyses to identify promising small molecules, which will, ultimately, lead to new drug treatments and promote leading-edge research designed to facilitate the delivery of therapies across the blood-brain barrier. “We are truly grateful to UCI leadership from across campus for their incredible support of this important initiative,” Spitale said.