The CART Fund is pleased to announce that Yueming Li, Ph.D., Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, has been selected to receive a 2016 Alzheimer’s research grant, in the amount of $250,000. The grant will be awarded on May 3, 2016 at the annual meeting of The CART Fund in Columbia, SC.
Research Project: Identification of small molecules and therapeutic targets in autophagic pathways for Alzheimer’s disease
In 2002, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) recruited Yueming Li from Merck Research, where he had been investigating the mechanism and therapeutics of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). As a biochemist, Dr. Li’s work at MSK uses chemical principles to develop less toxic, more effective treatment for cancers and AD, as well as other aging-related disorders.
AD is characterized by the progressive loss of neurons, which leads to dementia. Understanding the underlying molecular basis for AD remains a challenge; however, in recent years, several new cellular signaling pathways have been linked with AD. With the CART Fund’s generous support, Dr. Li and his team will explore how targeting the autophagic pathway, which regulates the recycling of degraded cells, can provide insights to drug development for AD.
The Coins for Alzheimer’s Research Trust Fund (CART) is a project of the Rotary Clubs of North America. Founded in 1995 in Sumter SC, CART provides financial support for Alzheimer’s research projects that are yet to be supported by extensive preliminary data but have the potential to substantially advance biomedical research.