Madhy Garcia Garcia, BS
The objective of Madhy’s project is to develop homeostatic iPSC derived microglia as a therapeutic tool for Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). As the resident immune cells of the brain, microglia survey their environment and maintain cellular CNS homeostasis. An association between tau levels and activated microglia suggests that there is an important interaction between neurons and microglia in AD. Of key significance, genome-wide association studies have found that various microglial genes are linked to AD risk. Extracellular vesicle (EV) research is an emerging field of study with various translational biomedical applications such as drug delivery vehicles. Here, we wish to leverage the ability of extracellular vesicles to promote cellular communication by using them to create modified homeostatic, neuroprotective microglia as a therapeutic treatment against AD. The goal of this study is to develop neuroprotective microglia to reduce the formation of pathogenic neurofibrillary tau and/or amyloid beta. We hope to build upon the potential findings from this study to develop a therapeutic regenerative medicine regimen, based upon the use of human stem cell-derived microglia for the treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease.