2009 Calendar |
Simonetta Sipione Moraine Lake, Banff National Park
It was 11 years ago that Heritage Scholar Dr. Simonetta Sipione made her first trip to the Canadian Rockies. At the time, she was a visiting Ph.D. student visiting the University of Alberta. Now, as a faculty member, she takes her own visitors to the mountains. Moraine Lake is one of her favourite spots. Not that she has had much time for touring; she has been busy setting up her lab. "Finally, everything is up and running. Now I have time to concentrate on my research." Dr. Sipione studies Huntington's disease, an inherited condition that causes neurons (nerve cells) in the brain to degenerate. Scientists would like to identify the very early changes associated with Huntington's disease, as these would be the best targets for treatment. Dr. Sipione may have identified one of these changes while doing post-doctoral work. In an experiment designed to identify all the genes that are turned on and off upon activation of the mutant huntingtin protein, she observed that several genes involved in producing cholesterol and other similar molecules didn't function normally. "This is my focus now-investigating whether low levels of these molecules play a role in Huntington's disease, and whether restoring their synthesis can improve function and survival of neurons." |
