McKnight researcher earns prestigious NIH MERIT grant

Posted: Nov 7th, 2011 •• Category: MBI-UF Latest News

University of Florida neuroscientist and McKnight Brain Institute researcher Thomas C. Foster, Ph.D., has earned an esteemed National Institutes of Health award to continue exploring ways to prevent or treat cognitive decline associated with aging.

Foster, the Evelyn F. McKnight chair for research on aging and memory and a professor in the Department of Neuroscience, received the award to continue to explore the causes of memory deficits as people grow old, with the aim of finding ways to prevent or reverse memory problems.

Called a MERIT award, for Method to Extend Research in Time, it is given to a limited number of investigators who have demonstrated superior competence and productivity in research and who are likely to continue to perform in an outstanding manner.

“The National Institute on Aging is recognizing your sustained contributions to aging, and your leadership and commitment to the field,” according to Richard J. Hodes, M.D., director of the National Institute on Aging. “At the same time, the NIA is expressing its conviction that you will continue to make significant advances in aging research for many years to come.”

The grant application received a perfect score prior to being chosen for a MERIT Award. The MERIT award provides long-term funding in order to insure the continuation of research programs of scientists that demonstrate a history of exceptional research achievements and only 5 percent of NIH funded investigators receive a MERIT award.

“The recognition afforded by this award is an honor and is exciting in that it will enable an expansion of our work first funded by NIA in 1997,” Foster said. “This funding will be used to extend our initial findings concerning how the brain changes with age and test treatments which may delay or reverse memory decline.”

Prior McKnight Brain Institute scientists to receive MERIT awards include Harry S. Nick, Ph.D., a professor in the Department of Neuroscience, for his research on the regulation of cytosolic phospholipase a2, which is involved in generating a compound that promotes inflammatory response in the lungs, and Mohan K. Raizada, Ph.D., a distinguished professor in the Department of Physiology and Functional Genomics, for his study of brain angiotensin in hypertensive neurons in culture.

The goal of Foster’s research is to improve the health and well-being of older Americans by finding ways to delay, prevent or treat cognitive decline associated with unsuccessful aging. One objective of the research is to determine when and where changes associated with memory problems first emerge in the brain by examining signals in specific regions of the brain associated with memory, including the hippocampus.

The project will test the hypothesis that neural inflammation contributes to cognitive decline. Foster and colleagues are investigating whether nonsteroidal, anti-inflammatory drugs have the potential to reverse the decline and improve brain signaling and memory during aging.

“A project of this scope would not be possible without my collaborators, Dr. Brandi Ormerod and Dr. Ashok Kumar, as well as the dedication of students and staff in the lab,” Foster said. “Furthermore, the support of the McKnight Brain Research Foundation and the University of Florida enabled us to conduct the preliminary studies that were essential to this proposal.”

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