In this episode, Dr. Carlos Faraco speaks with Dr. Don Cleveland of the University of California San Diego regarding his work on drug-based gene silencing therapies. Cleveland and the members of his lab use these therapies, also known as designer DNA drugs, to silence genes involved in the development of various neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s and Lou Gehrig’s disease. In addition to these familiar diseases, they also discuss how designer DNA drugs may help those suffering from chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a neurodegenerative disease affecting individuals with a history of repeated head injury, including athletes, military personnel, and domestic abuse victims. While the concept of chronic traumatic encephalopathy was first introduced in the early 1900s due to its prevalence in boxers, the cause of the disease has recently come under significant public scrutiny in the US due to several high-profile stories involving football players.

Participants

Host: Carlos Faraco, Ph.D., Neuroscience
2016-2018 Executive Branch Fellow at the National Institutes of Justice

Don Cleveland, Ph.D., Biomedical Sciences
Chair, Departmental of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, UCSD
Professor of Medicine, Neurosciences, and Cellular and Molecular Medicine, UCSD
Member, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research

Executive Producer

Carlos Faraco, Ph.D., Neuroscience
2016-2018 Executive Branch Fellow at the National Institutes of Justice

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Image: Don Cleveland / Ludwig Cancer Research