The National Institute of Health has bestowed a $500,000 grant to an Eastern Michigan University chemistry professor and her team to continue groundbreaking cancer and Alzheimer’s research.
Hyaluronan is a naturally occurring sugar found in the human body. It’s linked to cell growth with abnormal levels potentially causing cancer cell proliferation.
Dr. Hedeel Evans is a chemistry professor at EMU. She says this compound can also create new brain cells. She says she’s leading a research team, so hyaluronan’s nature can be fully understood.
“How these neuronal signaling that operates in cancer actually work, because if we understood that, then maybe we could understand how they don’t work in Alzheimer’s.”
Evans says once a breakthrough is achieved, it’s possible to modify the compound’s pathways to customize it for treating cancer or dementia.
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