Joanne Mclaurin

Biography

JoAnne McLaurin PhD Professor Contact information 2075 Bayview Ave., Rm S113 Toronto Ontario M4N 3M5 Phone: 416-480-6100 Ext: 7720 Fax: 416-480-5737 Email: joanne.mclaurin@sri.utoronto.ca Research location: Sunnybrook Health Science Centre/Research Institute Primary Research Area: Brain & Neuroscience Secondary Research Area: Human Development & Aging Research Statement: My research focuses on development of therapeutics to target protein-misfolding disorders, in particular Alzheimer’s disease. Stemming from the basic research of protein-lipid interactions, we identified a family of compounds that inhibit the formation of toxic soluble aggregates in Alzheimer’s disease that has added to our understanding of disease progression and human clinical trials.                      JoAnne McLaurin PhD Professor Contact information 2075 Bayview Ave., Rm S113 Toronto Ontario M4N 3M5 Phone: 416-480-6100 Ext: 7720 Fax: 416-480-5737 Email: joanne.mclaurin@sri.utoronto.ca Research location: Sunnybrook Health Science Centre/Research Institute Primary Research Area: Brain & Neuroscience Secondary Research Area: Human Development & Aging Research Statement: My research focuses on development of therapeutics to target protein-misfolding disorders, in particular Alzheimer’s disease. Stemming from the basic research of protein-lipid interactions, we identified a family of compounds that inhibit the formation of toxic soluble aggregates in Alzheimer’s disease that has added to our understanding of disease progression and human clinical trials.                     

Research Interest

My research focuses on development of potential therapeutics to target protein-misfolding disorders, in particular Alzheimer’s disease. Stemming from the basic research of protein-lipid interactions, my laboratory identified a family of naturally occurring compounds that inhibit the formation of toxic soluble aggregates in Alzheimer’s disease.  These molecules underwent preclinical studies to demonstrate efficacy and are now in Phase II clinical trials.  This work is being expanded to examine other neurodegenerative disorders such as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, Huntington’s and Parkinson’s disease in order to investigate the possibility of a universal anti-aggregant small molecule.  Further, since amyloid formation and disease progression cannot be monitored at present, we are attempting to develop a diagnostic based on compounds that bind amyloid but are not effective therapeutics.  Our latest endeavors include characterization of novel therapeutics that might be used in combination with small molecule therapies to fully recover functioning in Alzheimer’s disease.  This work is based on the premise that strategies in clinical trials to date will have some beneficial effects in stabilizing disease progression, yet to achieve optimal cognitive functioning combination therapies that address other targets will be necessary.