July 08, 2020

The Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation and Harrington Discovery Institute to Support Promising Research with Potential to Delay Onset or Slow the Progression of Alzheimer’s Disease

Dr. Eugenia Trushina of Mayo Clinic Rochester selected for late-stage preclinical work in preserving aging neurons

NEW YORK, NY, July 8, 2020 – The Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF) and Harrington Discovery Institute at University Hospitals have granted Eugenia Trushina, Ph.D., of Mayo Clinic Rochester, an ADDF-Harrington Scholar Award.

Dr. Trushina has been awarded $600,000 for her late stage preclinical research on new drug candidates that show promise in restoring mitochondrial function. In addition to funding, she will receive in-depth drug development support to help maximize her project’s potential for clinical success.

“The ADDF-Harrington partnership helps scientists move academic discoveries from their labs toward clinical studies, and eventually into the clinic to improve the lives of people living with and at risk of Alzheimer’s,” said Dr. Howard Fillit, the ADDF’s Founding Executive Director and Chief Science Officer. “The mitochondria, which are the powerhouses of the cell, are a promising new target in the fight to combat this devastating disease.”

Dr. Trushina has shown that restoring function in mitochondria may delay the onset or slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease. The compounds she and her team have developed have shown a positive effect in both symptomatic and pre-symptomatic models of Alzheimer’s.

“Supporting this innovative therapeutic approach for patients with Alzheimer’s disease represents our dedication to developing new classes of medicines that are not otherwise traditionally pursued in the field,” said Dr. Andrew Pieper, Director of the Neurotherapeutics Center of the Harrington Discovery Institute and University Hospitals Morley-Mather Chair in Neuropsychiatry.

Dr. Trushina’s research was selected through a competitive process, based on its potential to advance towards the clinic as a novel approach to treat, prevent, or cure Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. Collaboration between the ADDF and Harrington Discovery Institute for this award provides recipients with both research funding and expert guidance in order to efficiently bridge the gap between academia and pharma.

“We are in our seventh year of collaborating with the ADDF to address this major unmet medical need,” said Jonathan Stamler, MD, President, Harrington Discovery Institute and Robert S. and Sylvia K. Reitman Family Foundation Distinguished Chair of Cardiovascular Innovation and Professor of Medicine at University Hospitals and Case Western Reserve University. “This partnership leverages our combined expertise and resources to give the science the best chance of advancing towards a cure for Alzheimer’s disease.”