The HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology annually hosts its Memory & Mobility Update, an educational event designed to keep the public informed (free of charge) about its latest advances in neurodegenerative disease research.

HudsonAlpha Director of Communications Sarah Sharman moderated this year’s program held on June 23 at the Jackson Center.

The event featured presentations from Rick Myers, HudsonAlpha’s chief scientific officer and M. A. Loya Chair in Genomics; Nick Cochran, a HudsonAlpha faculty investigator; and Ashlyn Anderson, a graduate student at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Myers said recent scientific advances have given researchers renewed optimism.

“I think we have more hope than we’ve ever had because of the advances that we’ve made in the field,” Myers said.

The scientific officer highlighted a HudsonAlpha project that is working to develop blood tests, or biomarkers, for neurodegenerative diseases. Myers and his team hope that the tests will allow for early detection and differentiation between illnesses.

Myers said his lab identified a specific small RNA that was elevated in the blood of ALS patients but not in control subjects or Parkinson’s patients, suggesting it is a specific biomarker for ALS.

Following Myers’ presentation, Sharman explained the potential impact of the team’s work on ALS diagnosis and treatment.

“For a fast-moving disease like ALS, every single day matters. What Dr. Myers and his team are doing by identifying these blood-based biomarkers is essentially giving doctors a way to hear inside the body and catch the first early warning signs at a cellular level long before physical symptoms appear,” Sharman said.

“That kind of early detection changes everything for how we treat diseases,” Sharman said.

Anderson, who is conducting her graduate research at HudsonAlpha while pursuing her degree at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, presented on the study of microglia, the brain’s resident immune cells.

She explained that while microglia are helpful in clearing debris, their long-term activation in neurodegenerative diseases can lead to chronic inflammation.

“Over time, this inflammation ends up impacting nearby cells and can actually end up leading to further neuronal damage, neural loss and accelerating cognitive decline,” Anderson said.

To study these cells, Anderson’s team used induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from skin samples to grow human microglia in the lab. This model gave researchers the opportunity to investigate how genetic risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease affect microglia function.

“It allows them to create a window into the brain, watching in real-time how genetic changes overlap across different diseases so we can stop them at the source,” Sharman said.

Cochran provided an update on the HOPE AD (Healthy Outcomes through Phenomic Explorations for Alzheimer’s Disease) project, which aims to accelerate the early detection of risk for the illness.

“One thing that we are always trying to think about is how do we take what we do in the lab and then translate that to impact,” Cochran said.

Cochran said the study uses established blood-based biomarkers to assess participants’ risk for Alzheimer’s disease.

The study enrolled 165 individuals who had a first-degree relative with dementia and assessed their risk based on genetics, biomarkers, and lifestyle factors. Researchers invited 52 participants identified as high-risk to take part in a six-month multimodal lifestyle intervention.

Preliminary results suggested that overall participants maintained healthy habits and that those who adhered better showed signs of less cognitive decline.

“All of the things about mind, diet, and exercise, all those things really do make a difference when you consider them all together on disease risk,” Cochran said.

Cochran also noted researchers’ efforts to pilot a device called the Tasso, which allows participants to collect a small blood sample in a minimally invasive way.

During the panel discussion, the speakers discussed advances in technology, including rapid genome sequencing and the use of AI to analyze large datasets and accelerate research.

Cochran said recent advances in medicine have led to meaningful treatments that can slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease, though they are not cures.

“These diseases are going to keep progressing, but we do have a way to slow them down now,” Cochran said.

Reflecting on how the field has evolved over the course of his career, Myers said today’s advances feel closer than ever to making a real, meaningful difference.

“I wouldn’t say I didn’t have hope, but it always seemed so distant in the future. We can see it now, and that’s what to me is the most exciting part,” Myers said.

The next HudsonAlpha education event, “Plant Science as an Economic Engine,” will be at 5:30 p.m. on Aug. 18 at Mars Music Hall.