$125,000 awarded to Dr. Yeni Yucel, in collaboration with Dr. Neeru Gupta, Unity Health Toronto.
Biomarkers are biological measures that can be used to capture changes in our bodies, and often help to identify and track abnormalities. As such, biomarkers are of extreme importance in the diagnosis and treatment of various conditions. Unfortunately, existing experimental biomarkers for ALS can often be expensive, invasive, or not easily accessible by clinicians and patients. Thus, there is an urgent need for accurate and accessible biomarkers within the field.
When a certain part of a neuron becomes damaged, called the axon, a bubble-like feature called an axonal spheroid can be formed. These spheroids are commonly found in motor neurons in the brains and spinal cords of people living with ALS. Dr. Yucel and his team believe that the eye may be an important window to view and monitor this axonal injury.
With this grant, Dr. Yucel proposes to develop a reliable method to detect retinal spheroids in people living with ALS. Using widely available clinical eye imaging devices and advanced machine learning techniques, the team aims to design and validate imaging models that would estimate ALS disease severity. If successful, this project will establish the safe, non-invasive, rapid and relatively inexpensive biomarker for ALS which could be used to support ALS diagnosis, monitoring, and assessment of drug response in both the clinic and clinical trials.