Program Description

	Pietro De Camilli, MD Eugene Higgins Professor of Cell Biology

The program's primary objectives are to advance basic knowledge of nerve cell biology, to elucidate pathogenic mechanisms of neurodegenerative diseases and to translate such insights into improved therapies. By building on it's expertise in basic neuroscience further enhancing this strength, Yale expects to establish a uniquely productive mechanism for progress in treating AD and other neurodegenerative conditions. The CNNR will serve as a catalyst for collaborations in this field across the University and beyond.

	Stephen M. Strittmatter, M.D. Ph.D. Vincent Coates Professor of Neurology and of Neurobiology

The CNNR will have at its center a group of nine primary faculty members housed in adjacent laboratories. Two core laboratory facilities and affiliated CNNR faculty members will serve as bridges to the larger neuroscience community at Yale. CNNR researchers will study various aspects of the cell biology of the neuron and will attempt to understand how cell function goes awry in neurodegenerative disease. This program is expected to provide a focus for research in neurodegeneration across the existing Yale neuroscience community, which comprises over 100 faculty members. The long-term goal of the CNNR is to utilize cell biological insights into neurodegeneration to develop novel a nd rational therapeutic strategies.

The directors of the new program are Pietro De Camilli, M.D., Eugene Higgins Professor of Cell Biology, and Stephen M. Strittmatter, M.D., Ph.D., Vincent Coates Professor of Neurology and of Neurobiology, both members of Yale’s Kavli Institute for Neuroscience. Several new scientists in a variety of disciplines will be recruited to join them at CNNR and create a core to interconnect the more than 100 neuroscientists who now work across the Yale campus.