The Center for Neural Circuit Mapping will host guest speaker Dr. Li Gan, Director of the Helen and Robert Appel Alzheimer’s Disease Research Institute at Cornell University.

Innate immunity and neurodegeneration: challenges and opportunities

As the resident immune cells in the brain, microglia serve as liaisons between the immune system and CNS and are strategically located to participate in the onset and progression of CNS inflammatory responses in neurodegenerative diseases. Identifying protective and toxic pathways in microglia in neurodegeneration could lead to new therapeutic targets. Our laboratory research has identified pivotal pathways in microglia that play significant roles in neurodegenerative diseases. We have explored their contribution to inflammatory responses, including NF-kB, Akt, and cGAS-STING-IFN-I in progression of disease pathology and cognitive resilience. We have extended our novel mechanistic insights to small molecule microglial modulators that specifically target the toxic aspects of microglia responses in neurodegeneration. Future endeavors will focus on how microglia interact with other brain cells in the CNS, with the goal of establishing new, effective microglia-targeted therapeutic strategies.