MSU pediatric researcher receives NIH Director’s Transformative Research Award

Michigan State University College of Human Medicine researcher Michael R. Williams, has received the National Institutes of Health Director’s Transformative Research Award.

Williams and his colleagues will receive $4.2 million over five years to develop a new molecular tool that studies how brain cells communicate. Their work opens new doors in neuroscience research and could lead to future gene therapies for brain disorders.

The competitive grant is part of the NIH’s High-Risk, High-Reward grant program which supports innovative research projects that challenge existing paradigms and work that demonstrates potential for broad impact in the field. These innovations could transform how the brain is studied and the treatments made available to those with neurologic disorders.

“The existing technology relies heavily on neurotropic viruses with drawbacks including inaccuracy and varying degrees of toxicity that don’t perform well in vivo,” said Williams, assistant professor of pediatrics and human development.

Williams and his team are developing molecular “I/O tags” made from specific combinations of protein sequences to more precisely and safely target neurons in the brain.

“The Transformative Research Award will allow us to focus on solving a major technological gap in research,” said Williams. The team hopes the I/O tags will also bring more options for therapeutic treatment in the future.

Keith English, chair of the College of Human Medicine’s Department of Pediatrics and Human Development, said the project has a lot of potential.

“This is a major advance in understanding how neurons communicate with each other,” said English. “This groundbreaking research should improve our understanding of autism and related conditions."

Williams and his colleague Kimberly Ritola, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, are the primary investigators on the grant. Other contributors include Jason Christie, University of Colorado Anschutz; Greg Horwitz and Robi Soetedjo, University of Washington; and David Fitzpatrick, Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience.

This story originally appeared on the College of Human Medicine website.