Dr. Qian Cai Awarded NIA R21 Grant to Study Mitochondrial Role in Tauopathy and Alzheimer’s Disease

Dr. Qian Cai, Associate Professor in the Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience at Rutgers–New Brunswick and a BHI member, has received an R21 grant from the National Institute on Aging for her project, “The role of mitochondrial deficits in tauopathy-linked autophagy defects.” This project explores how mitochondrial dysfunction contributes to impaired autophagy, a key cellular clearance process, and the accumulation of pathological tau protein, a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease and related tauopathies. Dr. Cai will investigate the mechanistic link between Miro, mitochondrial phosphatidylethanolamine biosynthesis, and autophagosome formation. The study also aims to determine whether enhancing this mitochondrial pathway can mitigate memory deficits in tauopathy models, potentially paving the way for a novel therapeutic strategy to combat Alzheimer’s disease and frontotemporal dementia.

Learn more: https://reporter.nih.gov/search/K-6Wz756vUiCYWZLP5aG4w/project-details/11137856