Research Interests

My research concerns the chemistry, metabolism, and biological function of complex glycoconjugates, particularly glycosphingolipids. These compounds play crucial roles in determining cellular properties such as intercellular interactions, recognition, and adhesion. Current research is focused on the following areas:

• Developmental neurobiology--the role of glycoconjugates in cellular proliferation and differentiation, as well as the metabolic basis and regulatory mechanisms for their expression in normal brain development,
• Stem cell biology--role of glycoconjugates in neural stem cell differentiation and proliferation, and use of stem cells in transplantation therapy,
• Mechanisms of neurodegenerative disorders--the basic mechanisms underlying a variety of neurodegenerative disorders, including neuroplasia, multiple sclerosis, autoimmune demyelinating neuropathies, mucopolysaccharidoses, sensorineural hearing loss, Parkinson s disease, and Alzheimer s disease,
• Neurooncology--basic mechanisms of tumorigenesis and development of vaccine-based tumor suppression strategies.

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  Research Projects

  We are actively investigating treatment strategies for a number of diseases, including Guillain-Barre syndrome that is very much in the news these days. We have developed animal models to test the efficacy of novel therapeutic strategies. We have already achieved considerable success in Phase I for some of the work in rodents--and--we are now entering the phase of non-human primates studies. We are also working on several other neurodegenerative diseases, such as Sanfilippo disease, Alzheimer's disease, Huntington disease, and MS; specifically, from the scientific approach of using stem cell transplantation to achieve tissue repair.

   

  Lab Personnel

  Robert K. Yu, Ph.D., Principal Investigator

  list of additional personnel pending...

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

  Revised ]]> January 20, 2010 ]]--> .