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Neuroscience Center of Economic Excellence
Inception: About the Center: The Neuroscience Center researches age-related neurodegenerative problems including dementia, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and stroke. This area of research has a major impact on South Carolina, where more than half the population is over the age of 56. This Center is a strong component of MUSC’s established Neuroscience Institute and also works in collaboration with the MUSC Center on Aging. The Center has supported the creation of SemiAlloGen, Inc., a biotechnology start-up
company that develops therapeutics in the field of neuro-degenerative disorders
and cancer. This Center is developing a project with Jazz Pharmaceuticals to test
mechanisms of action of the drug Xyrem. The Center has partnered with Cephalon
Pharmaceuticals and Lilly Pharmaceuticals to test brain reward function. It has also begun discussions with
Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline to test two antagonists as potential treatment of addiction. The Center has received more than $9 million in research funding, which SmartState Chair Dr. Aston-Jones and his research team have focused on such subjects as drug addiction; a new rat model of depression, and brain circuits involved in circadian regulation of behavioral processes. In FY 2010, Aston-Jones’ research of the brain nucleus locus coeruleus spurred an article on the causes of autism by the director of the Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative. The Center has collaborated with research teams at Princeton University, Tamagawa University (Japan), University of Texas at San Antonio, Harvard University, University of Bordeaux (France), and University of Pennsylvania. Funding level: SmartState Endowed Chairs:
Endowed Chair Dr. Gary Aston-Jones studies brain functions involved in learning, addiction, and depression.
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