The Young Investigator Award (YIA) provides two-year salary support to early-career NF researchers to help them get established as independent NF investigators. Since its inception, several YIAs have made groundbreaking research findings and notable publications through this program, and many have advanced to become leaders in the NF research and clinical communities.
We’re pleased to introduce some of these researchers from the latest class of awardees: Alex Dyson (Massachusetts General Hospital) shares how his YIA-funded project investigates NF1 protein interactions that regulate neuronal function and how mutations may alter these interactions, potentially explaining the diverse symptoms of NF1.
I have been actively involved in NF1 research ever since the start of my PhD, in which I leveraged a Drosophila (fruit fly) model of the disorder to investigate the importance of NF1 in synaptic transmission and behavior. Whilst these processes are clearly disrupted inNF1-deficient animals, little is known about the molecular mechanisms contributing to such disturbances. In this current project, I intend to use a combination of genetic, biochemical and behavioral techniques to address this poorly understood aspect of NF1 pathobiology.
For example: with which proteins does Drosophila Nf1 interact to regulate neuronal function? Do pathogenic mutations differentially impact these interactions and, if so, might this contribute to the heterogeneity of behavioral symptomatology in NF1? Can the interactions disrupted by these mutations be corrected for pharmacologically? That so many questions still surround the role of NF1 in brain development and behavior maintains my passion for the field, even after six years. Receiving the Young Investigator’s Award from CTF has been invaluable both in terms of financial support and in assuring me of the potential of my work to improve the lives of the NF1 community.
Click here to learn more about funding opportunities, including the Young Investigator Awards, from the Children’s Tumor Foundation.
