Disease study gets $15M boost

SCIENTIFIC METHOD: University of Rhode Island professor and Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Program Director Nassar Zawia works with a student. / COURTESY URI/GIBLIN & CO. PHOTOGRAPHY
SCIENTIFIC METHOD: University of Rhode Island professor and Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Program Director Nassar Zawia works with a student. / COURTESY URI/GIBLIN & CO. PHOTOGRAPHY

Rhode Island health and science leaders are heralding a new neuroscience research institute at the University of Rhode Island as a way to further collaborate in the prevention and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases.
The founding of the George and Anne Ryan Institute for Neuroscience on Nov. 14 reflects the vision of Thomas M. Ryan, the URI alumnus and former chairman, president and CEO of CVS Caremark Corp., and his wife, Cathy, who donated $15 million to the university to launch it.
Ryan, whose late father, George, suffered from Alzheimer’s disease, strongly believes that sharing research discoveries is necessary to generate treatments and cures – not only for Alzheimer’s, but for Parkinson’s, stroke, ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease) and other illnesses.
It’s a conviction shared by URI officials and leaders at institutions that have already delved into similar areas – the Brown Institute for Brain Science, the Norman Prince Neurosciences Institute, and Lifespan and Rhode Island Hospital.
“All the neurodegenerative diseases are just traumatic for the families,” Ryan said, days after the fanfare of the formal announcement at the university had subsided.
“My belief is, the only way we’re going to get meaningful breakthrough is if we share our results, communicate and – it’s really selflessness – find a cure,” said Ryan. “This is not about who owns the data. In the early days of researching, they were keeping this stuff close to the vest. That’s not happening now. If we want really meaningful and not incremental breakthroughs, we need to work together.”
Experienced Rhode Island researchers already engaged in evolving areas of discovery are eager to share in the prospect of cross-cutting scientific investigation and alliances that Ryan envisions.
“It’s really exciting to see that Tom Ryan and URI are interested in investing in neuroscience and understanding the brain,” said R. John Davenport, associate director of the Brain Science institute and an adjunct professor of neuroscience at Brown University. “Dealing with disorders and diseases that affect the nervous system is a massive problem. We’re at the very beginning of understanding these disorders. So, there’s a huge need and room for more scientists to get involved.” URI’s strength in pharmacology is expected to complement a broader focus on the mechanics of neuroscience at the Norman Prince institute, said John Robson, associate director of the Brain Science institute and administrative director of the Norman Prince institute.
“Drug development and drug-delivery research are not things that are done much here in Providence because that’s not really our strength,” said Robson, “so they complement us perfectly in that area.”
In addition, one area of focus at the Norman Prince institute is on the aging brain, “and that fits right into [URI’s] emphasis on neurodegeneration and Alzheimer’s disease,” he added. “Anything they build will complement what we have: it’s a natural fit.”
Named in memory of Ryan’s father and his late mother, the new institute’s primary task now is conducting a global search for a renowned expert in neuroscience to assume the role of director. The director will be allowed to hire three new faculty members, and work in conjunction with URI’s graduate Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Program, said Nasser Zawia, program director. That director will be hired within the year, said President David M. Dooley.
Dooley and Zawia, who is also dean of the graduate school at the College of Pharmacy and professor of pharmacology and toxicology, said collaboration with the Brain Science and Norman Prince institutes, as well as local hospitals and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, will be a hallmark of the Ryan institute.
“We see ourselves working with them and benefiting from their advice and guidance because they’re ahead of us in this area,” Zawia said, “but we bring in the stature of a public university, and together we could compete for specific types of funding that requires public/private partnerships.”
URI is considering possible creation of an undergraduate minor and eventually, a degree, in neuroscience as well as use of some labs in the new College of Pharmacy building, Zawia said. “The institute will be the research hub and the graduate program will be the academic wing of it,” Zawia said.
The Norman Prince institute, which Dr. Timothy J. Babineau, president and CEO of Lifespan and president of Rhode Island Hospital, has overseen, was launched in 2010 with a gift of $15 million from the Prince family. That gift has led to expertise being developed in three areas: neurosurgery, neurology and psychiatry, Babineau said.
Working together across those disciplines at such institutions as Brown University’s Warren Alpert Medical School and the Providence VA Medical Center has allowed scientists to look at their respective areas of research “each through a different lens,” Babineau said. So, while collaboration is already practiced, the new URI institute will expand it further.
Other possibilities for growth as a result of future collaborations include a neuroscience research center, Babineau said.
“It will be interesting to see if URI plans to have a presence in Providence,” he said. “There may be an opportunity to create that collaborative space, but we have not had those conversations yet.”
Added Davenport: “In a lot of ways, this collaboration will depend on recruiting the new director and his or her vision of what needs to happen at URI. Where the rubber really meets the road is when you have scientists at the faculty level working together and students and post-docs working between labs. The actual science projects are really happening between labs and that’s the sort of ultimate partnership we’d like to see.”
While the Ryan institute will address degenerative diseases broadly, Alzheimer’s will get a fair amount of attention.
“I’d like to see the focus on Alzheimer’s because of my personal issues with my dad,” Ryan said, “but my colleagues suffered from ALS and Parkinson’s so I’d like to see that, too. I really believe that in the next five to 10 years, we’re at an inflection point to get a breakthrough that could slow down the disease and in years out get a breakthrough that could cure it.” •

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