Notable ResearchersIn this section, you will find information on: If you are a researcher and would like to be featured on our website or would like to nominate another of our grantees, please contact a member of our communications department. Stanley Prusiner, M.D.
Dr. Prusiner's award is the culmination of 25 years of sometimes controversial research on the prion, a natural human protein that, under certain conditions, can interact with other prion proteins, ultimately forming harmful deposits in the brain. The American Health Assistance Foundation (AHAF) awarded more than $1.2 million in research grants through its Alzheimer's Disease Research program to Dr. Prusiner to develop his prion theory as a model for Alzheimer's disease. Prions have been implicated in dementia-causing diseases such as mad cow disease and scrapie in animals, and Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) and Gerstmann-Straussler-Scheinker syndrome (GSS) in humans. Bacteria, viruses and parasites and infectious agents, whose ability to grow and reproduce is governed by genetic material made up of RNA and DNA. Prions, however, appear to be made up entirely of proteins with no accompanying DNA or RNA. Prions are present in normal cells, and the gene that codes the production of the prion protein is part of a normal human chromosome. Beginning in 1985, AHAF supported studies of the structures and properties of prions, and investigations that led to the purification and identification of the prion protein in the brains of scrapie-infected sheep. AHAF also awarded a grant to Dr. Prusiner to study CJD and GSS, using molecular biology methods to introduce genes from mutated prion proteins into mice to create an animal model for these diseases. His AHAF grant focused on the development of a new system to determine when in the life of a mouse the prion protein leads to disease. Dr. Prusiner also studied a method to prevent prion disease by blocking prions from converting normal proteins into more prions. There are similarities between the loss of brain function in prion diseases and in Alzheimer's disease, and an understanding of how prion diseases begin and develop will add to our understanding of what happens to the brain in Alzheimer's disease. Dr. Prusiner's research may one day lead to a treatment and a cure for Alzheimer's. Xuri Li, Ph.D.
Dr. Li’s investigations into neovascular macular degeneration are focused on two proteins, PDGF-C and PDGF-D, that may promote the abnormal blood vessel growth associated with damage to the macula and subsequent vision loss. These two protein molecules might offer new targets for treating macular degeneration. In her glaucoma study, Dr. Li is investigating the protective effect of a molecule called vascular endothelium growth factor B (VEGF-B), on retinal ganglion cells (RGCs).The degeneration and death of RGCs causes the loss of peripheral vision in glaucoma. Since VEGF-B has been shown to protect neurons from damage, Dr. Li theorizes that it might perform this function in the retina. She and her colleagues recently validated this theory using animal models, and their work was published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation. The team continues to test the potential of VEGF-B gene and cell therapy to treat degenerative eye diseases. Glaucoma and macular degeneration share some similarities, and learning about one disease can add to knowledge about the other. Dr. Li’s ultimate goal is to develop new, better and more individualized treatments that can save vision and improve the quality of life. Until a cure is found, Dr. Li believes that prevention is the best therapy. Healthy habits such as regular exercise and a balanced diet lead to overall better physical condition that may preserve vision. Just as importantly, Dr. Li emphasizes the benefits of an optimistic life attitude. “I laugh every day,” she says. This committed researcher is deeply appreciative of donor support, and she vows to continue to fight vision loss by searching for a cure. Last Reviewed On: 09/26/08 |
Stanley Prusiner, M.D., a neurobiologist at the University of California at San Francisco, was awarded the 1997 Nobel Prize in Medicine for his groundbreaking discovery and definition of a new class of disease-causing agents called prions. The Nobel Prize is the most prestigious award given for research in medicine.
Xuri Li is a native of China who studied and worked in Sweden and Belgium before joining the National Institutes of Health in 2005 as the Head of the Unit on Retinal Vascular Neurobiology. In 2007, she was the recipient of two separate awards from AHAF to investigate neovascular (“wet”) macular degeneration and glaucoma. Dr. Li seeks to better understand these diseases and ultimately discover new treatments. As a young girl and the daughter of a physician, Dr. Li wondered why no one could prevent her grandfather from dying of cancer. She went to Shanghai Medical University in the hope of finding answers. The process of learning “why” is still a “major source of joy” for this dedicated scientist. In Sweden and Belgium, Dr. Li’s research concentrated on growth factors and vascular biology. At the National Eye Institute, she has found more opportunities to develop and grow these fields of scientific investigation in relation to ocular diseases.
American Health Assistance Foundation 
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