Federal Project Grant Award Summary

The San Diego Biomedical Research Institute received a $541,750 Project Grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) under the Extramural Research Programs in the Neurosciences and Neurological Disorders program (CFDA 93.853), awarded May 15, 2026, with completion targeted for April 30, 2028. This research project focuses on discovering novel noncanonical autophagy modulators to address protein aggregation and neuronal dysfunction associated with Alzheimer's disease, frontotemporal degeneration, and Lewy body dementia. The project will deliver two complementary intracellular functional screening platforms designed to identify autophagy-activating compounds that restore proteostasis in neuronal disease models, addressing current therapeutic limitations associated with existing autophagy-enhancing strategies.

The research outcomes will include novel autophagy modulators validated through biochemical and functional assays in human neuronal models, along with a broadly applicable screening pipeline for dementia and proteinopathy-driven neurodegenerative disease research. Conducted at the awardee's San Diego, California facility, the project comprises two integrated aims: discovery of modulators from a synthetic library using autophagy flux reporters in neuronal cells (Aim 1) and implementation of an orthogonal screening platform based on a distinct peptide scaffold (Aim 2). These deliverables are intended to advance the scientific understanding of autophagy mechanisms and facilitate therapeutic discovery for neurodegenerative diseases.