Etienne de Villers-Sidani and Philippe Huot have been awarded funding from the Weston Family Foundation鈥檚 for their innovative research advancing diagnostic tools and interventions for Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson鈥檚 disease.听They are among seven researchers nationwide听to receive funding in this year鈥檚 competition, .
The Weston Family Foundation, through the Weston Brain Institute and the Weston Family Microbiome Initiative, supports science-based approaches to significantly improve the health and well-being of Canadians. The Rapid Response program funds high-risk, high-reward translational research that accelerates the development of therapeutics or tools for neurodegenerative diseases of aging.听
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Etienne de Villers-Sidani, Associate Professor in the Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, received funding for his project titled 鈥�Development and validation of a digital biomarker-based tool for the early screening and monitoring of Alzheimer鈥檚 Disease鈥�.听
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Professor De Villers-Sidani will validate a novel mobile tool for monitoring Alzheimer鈥檚 disease using a multi-site, multi-phase cross-sectional study with multiple cohorts of AD patients. The Eye-Tracking Neurological Assessment for Alzheimer鈥檚 Disease (ETNA鈩�-AD) uses an iPad鈥檚 embedded camera to analyze eye movements, which can inform on the presence of neurodegeneration and cognitive impairment. The device has the potential to offer a fast, non-invasive, and scalable alternative to lengthy clinical assessments.听听
Phillipe Huot, Associate Professor in the Department of Neurology & Neurosurgery, received funding for his project titled 鈥�Characterisation of novel GlyT1 inhibitors for the treatment of Parkinson鈥檚 disease鈥�.听听听
Professor Huot and his team will study a novel therapeutic strategy aimed at improving the effectiveness of Parkinson鈥檚 disease treatments while reducing their most debilitating side effects. His team has demonstrated that inhibiting the glycine transporter 1 (GlyT1) can both enhance the anti-parkinsonian effects of L-DOPA, the current gold-standard therapy, and significantly reduce L-DOPA-induced dyskinesia鈥攊nvoluntary, abnormal movements often occurring with long-term use of medications for Parkinson's鈥攁 major limitation of long-term treatment. Unlike existing therapies, GlyT1 inhibitors may also reduce psychosis-like behaviours without exacerbating motor complications. Building on these findings, Professor Huot and his team will assess novel GlyT1 inhibitor compounds optimized for improved efficacy and safety. They will now characterize candidates using rodent models to advance a potentially new best-in-class, differentiated therapy.听
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