Glimmers of Hope - Part I

Profiles of Young Researchers

In an earlier post called, "The Nine Stages," I mentioned "Hope" was the ninth stage. I ended the post by saying, "With acceptance, and armed with the additional knowledge that researchers were working diligently towards finding a treatment and potentially a cure, I discovered something that had been missing recently in my life – Hope." In another post, "Another Ray of Hope on the Research Front," I commented, "… how fortunate we are that another generation has picked up the baton and continues to move towards the finish line (finding a treatment or cure). As long as someone is carrying the baton, we have hope."

Over the next month or so, I plan to post profiles of some of the younger researchers who are dedicated to finding a treatment for Kennedy's Disease. Most of these profiles are in the researcher's own words except for some editorial license that I take. I do not imply that I know all of the younger researchers and have not selected any specific researchers over others. I just contacted a few that I am aware of and asked if I could profile them in my blog.

I decided to profile these researchers for two reasons. The first is to recognize this next generation of researchers who continue to provide us with hope. And, second, to let others that live with Kennedy's Disease know that there are people out there that are being passed the baton and readily accept the responsibility.

In this post, I wish to recognize:

Udai Bhan Pandey, Ph.D., who is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Genetics at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, in New Orleans, LA. Udai has been awarded two research grants from the Kennedy's Disease Association (KDA). Udai trained under J. Paul Taylor, MD, Ph.D., at the University of Pennsylvania and then St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Note: Dr. Taylor is a member of the KDA's Scientific Review Board.

Bruce: Why did you decide to focus your research on Kennedy's Disease?

Udai: As a graduate student, I worked on another triplet repeat expansion disease "Fragile X Mental Retardation" that led me to think how expansion of triplet repeats in different proteins causes so many different human diseases. Soon after my graduation, I came to Dr. J Paul Taylor's lab for postdoctoral training. Dr. Taylor was planning to make a drosophila model of Kennedy's Disease. I was excited with the idea of using fruit flies as a model for studying Kennedy's Disease and decided to focus my research on Kennedy's Disease. The drosophila model of SBMA was made with the generous support of the KDA. KDA fellowship allowed me to initiate a genetic screen that led to the discovery of a novel gene HDAC6.

Bruce: Briefly summarize what you are currently working on and why you feel it is important in Kennedy's Disease research.

Udai: My lab is studying pathways responsible for degradation of Kennedy's Disease causing protein. We recently identified a novel gene HDAC6 that links two important pathways (ubiquitin proteasome system and autophagy) responsible for degradation of toxic and misfolded proteins. We are trying to identify genes that are involved in mediating HDAC6 function. In addition to this, we are also going to perform a large drug screen using Kennedy's Disease flies to identify compounds (drugs) that can protect against Kennedy's Disease.

Bruce: What are your aspirations (career goals)?

Udai: My lab at LSU is dedicated to research on Kennedy's Disease. My long-term goal is to develop a therapeutic intervention for Kennedy's disease. I am also planning to involve new people who are interested in working on Kennedy's Disease. Recently, Nicholas Lanson, Jr., Ph.D. joined my lab. Nick is a highly experienced scientist and he is very interested in doing research on neurodegenerative diseases, particularly on Kennedy's disease.