Researchers at DSU using award funding to advance Alzheimer’s Disease understanding

DOVER, Del. – Scientists at Delaware State University are diving into what causes Alzheimer’s disease.

Dr. Michael Gitcho said it’s all thanks to a $500,000 award from the Delaware Community Foundation, which will catapult the team into the next phases of its study.

“It’s really exciting and it allows us to do things, like mouse development and new model development,” Dr. Gitcho said.

But why mice? Dr. Gitcho said humans share more similarities with the rodents than one might think.

With extensive research, they’ll be able to connect their findings to existing patients, to try to pinpoint where humans begin developing Alzheimer’s.

“Evolutionarily, we’re very close to mice,” Dr. Gitcho said. “We kind of utilize their natural curiosity when we look at behavior for mice; when we look at memory changes and so on.”

PHD student, Muhammad Abeer, is hopeful their research will shed more light on the disease, which affects 19,000 Delawareans. The ultimate goal is to offer data that will contribute to a treatment.

“If you understand the pathology, we’ll be able to find better medications we can advance the field,” Abeer said.