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Department of Pharmacology
Benoit Giasson, Ph.D.

Education:

1986-1988	College Education Diplomat	St. Lawrence College, Quebec City , Canada
1988-1991	B.S. (Biochemistry)	McGill University, Montreal, Canada
1991-1997	Ph.D. (Biochemistry)	McGill University, Montreal, Canada

Research Summary:
Neurodegenerative diseases are devastating disorders that lead to the deterioration of quality of life of affected individuals, impose a tremendous burden on caregivers, and create an enormous socio-economical strain. Since age is the most important risk factor for developing these disorders, the number of individuals affected will continue to grow with the aging population. It is estimated that Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, the most common neurodegenerative disorders, afflict 30% and 4% of the population, respectively, by the age of 80, but these diseases can affect a significant number of individuals as early as 50 years of age. Although present therapeutics can alleviate some of the symptoms of these diseases, there are still no effective cures or interventions to prevent these diseases.

In the past several years, the discoveries of novel genes and mutations that cause disease have shed new light on the pathological pathways involved in these disorders. Some findings have supported the notion that aberrant proteinaceous inclusions comprised of the protein α-synuclein and tau play an important role in disease. The characterization of the function of other disease-causing genes such as parkin, DJ-1 and LRRK-2 are still under intense investigation. The goals of my laboratory are to understand the biological changes that lead to the aberrant formation of intracellular protein aggregations that are associated with neurodegenerative diseases. Furthermore, the effects of mutations in parkin, DJ-1 and LRRK-2 on normal biological pathways, enhancing oxidative stress, protein aggregation and neuronal cell death are under investigation. A variety of biological and biochemical experimental approaches including in vitro experiments, examination of pathological specimens, tissue culture paradigms and transgenic mouse models are being applied to try to understand the underlying pathobiology of neurodegenerative disorders.