Our Mission
The mission of the Discovery Research Unit is to create opportunities for multidisciplinary collaborations, and match bench scientists with clinical partners to identify avenues for new treatments, biomarkers, and predictive diagnostics for neurodegenerative diseases.
It Takes Great Minds to Make Serious Progress
The Discovery Research Unit brings together neuroscientists and provides funding for new initiatives.
Research Highlights
Neuroscience at WSU
Unlocking the mystery of glial brain cells. Ingiosi AM, Hayworth CR, Harvey DO, Singletary KG, Rempe MJ, Wisor JP, Frank MG: A role for astroglial calcium in mammalian sleep and sleep regulation. Current biology : CB 2020, 30(22):4373-4383.e4377.
Sleep and neurodegenerative disease
Vanderheyden WM, Lim MM, Musiek ES, Gerstner JR. Alzheimer’s Disease and Sleep-Wake Disturbances: Amyloid, Astrocytes, and Animal Models. J Neurosci. 2018 Mar 21;38(12):2901-2910.
New insights into post-traumatic stress disorders.
Davis CJ, Vanderheyden WM: Optogenetic sleep enhancement improves fear-associated memory processing following trauma exposure in rats. Scientific Reports 2020, 10(1):18025.