The Alzheimer’s Association has awarded Justin Legleiter, assistant professor in the in the C. Eugene Bennett Department of Chemistry in the West Virginia University Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, with one of approximately 45 internationally awarded New Investigator Research Grants.

Alzheimer’s Association research grants are made to advance the understanding of Alzheimer’s disease, help identify new treatment strategies, provide information to improve care for people with dementia, and further knowledge of brain health and disease prevention. The New Investigator Research Grant is reserved for researchers who have earned their doctoral degrees within the last 10 years.

Legleiter received his doctorate in chemistry from Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, in 2005. He has been an assistant professor at WVU since 2008. Prior to arriving at WVU, he spent three years at the Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease at the University of California, San Francisco, as a postdoctoral fellow.

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To conduct his project, “Mechanisms and consequences of beta-amyloid peptide binding to cellular surfaces,” Legleiter will receive a two-year, $99,592 grant. He will work with WVU chemistry students to try to unravel information on the beta-amyloid peptide, which is found deposited in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients. It is composed of 39-43 amino acids.

“One of the major hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease is the formation of deposits of the beta-amyloid peptide in the brain,” Legleiter said. “These deposits are comprised of smaller beta-amyloid peptide aggregates often termed fibrils and oligomers, which are thought to play an important role in Alzheimer’s.”

Legleiter believes his team’s research could provide a detailed understanding of how changes in cellular surface properties associated with aging influence beta-amyloid peptide binding, aggregation and toxicity.

“While it is unclear how beta-amyloid peptide aggregates are toxic, the initial interaction of it with the surface of a cell represents a fundamental step in Alzheimer’s disease pathology,” he said. “The goal of our research is to try to understand the physical changes of a cell’s surface that facilitate this initial interaction with the beta-amyloid peptide binding. It is hoped that understanding this process may lead to new therapeutic strategies for battling Alzheimer’s disease.”

Students assisting Legleiter with his research include chemistry graduate students Elizabeth Yates and Nicole Shamitko, and undergraduates Michael Lynch and George Magnone.

“I had the pleasure of visiting Dr. Legleiter’s lab a couple of years ago and hearing about his exciting work,” said Jane Marks, executive director of the Alzheimer’s Association, West Virginia Chapter. “We were delighted to hear his promising research, here in West Virginia, has been recognized and funded by our national organization.”

Department of Chemistry Chair Terry Gullion said, “Research is one of the hallmarks of the 2020 Strategic Plan for the Future, and this grant helps fuel an important study that could trigger a breakthrough in the cure for this disease. Our students will also benefit from training under Dr. Legleiter.”

Since awarding its first grants in 1982, the Alzheimer’s Association has become the largest, nonprofit funder of Alzheimer’s research, awarding more than $279 million to 1,900 projects. This year’s grant announcement coincides with World Alzheimer’s Month of September and Alzheimer’s Action Day on Sept. 21. The focus of World Alzheimer’s Month 2011 is early awareness and prevention.

Alzheimer’s is the sixth-leading cause of death in the United States, killing more Americans than diabetes, and more than breast cancer and prostate cancer combined. An estimated 5.4 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s disease, according to the Association’s 2011 Alzheimer’s disease Facts and Figures report.

About the Alzheimer’s Association
The Alzheimer’s Association is the world’s leading voluntary health organization in Alzheimer’s research, care and support. Our mission is to eliminate Alzheimer’s disease through advancement of research, to provide and enhance care and support for all affected, and to reduce the risk of dementia through the promotion of brain health. The West Virginia Chapter serves all 55 counties in West Virginia and six counties in eastern Ohio.

For more information on the research grant, contact Justin Legleiter at (304) 293-3435 or justin.legleiter@mail.wvu.edu.

-WVU-

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CONTACT: University Relations/News
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