Scholars@Duke

• Background
• 

  Education, Training, & Certifications

  • Neurogenetics Fellow, University of Washington, School of Medicine 1997 - 1999
  • Pharmacology Postdoctoral Fellow, Pharmacology, University of Washington, School of Medicine 1995 - 1999
  • Medical Genetics Clinical Fellow, Medicine, University of Washington, School of Medicine 1995 - 1998
  • Laboratory Medicine Resident, Medicine, University of Washington, School of Medicine 1993 - 1996
  • M.D., University of Pennsylvania, School of Medicine 1993
  • Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania, School of Medicine 1993
• 

  Previous Appointments & Affiliations

  • Affiliate of the Regeneration Next Initiative, Regeneration Next Initiative, Basic Science Departments 2018 - 2020
  • Professor In Neurobiology, Neurobiology, Basic Science Departments 2018 - 2020
  • Professor in Cell Biology, Cell Biology, Basic Science Departments 2018 - 2020
  • Professor of Neurology, Neurology, Behavioral Neurology, Neurology 2018 - 2020
  • The Lincoln Financial Group Distinguished Professor in Neurobiology, Neurology, Behavioral Neurology, Neurology 2019 - 2020
  • Instructor in the Departmentof Neurology, Neurology, Behavioral Neurology, Neurology 2017 - 2018
• Recognition
• 

  In the News

  • DEC 11, 2017

    Duke Neurology

    Existing Cancer Medication Offers Potential to Treat Huntingtons Disease
• Research
• 

  Selected Grants

  • Genetic and Genomics Training Grant awarded by National Institutes of Health 2020 - 2025
  • SCA7 neurodegeneration: Molecular epigenetic basis and therapy awarded by National Institutes of Health 2002 - 2023
  • Control of Astrocyte Function by Parkinsonism Gene LRRK2 awarded by Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research 2019 - 2021
  • Super-resolution Imaging via Multiple Modalities with the Zeiss Elyra 7 awarded by National Institutes of Health 2020 - 2021
  • Molecular genetic regulation of autophagy in health and neurodegenerative disease awarded by National Institutes of Health 2018 - 2021
  • Ataxia Investigators Meeting 8: Leveraging Therapeutic Opportunity into Novel Treatment Paradigms awarded by National Institutes of Health 2020 - 2021
  • The PPAR-delta pathway in neural function and Huntington's disease neuropathology awarded by National Institutes of Health 2018 - 2020
  • Deconstructing the cellular and molecular basis of SBMA motor neuron disease: From mechanism to therapy awarded by National Institutes of Health 2018 - 2020
  • Enhanced skeletal muscle proteostasis as a determinant of CNS protein quality control and neural function in the aging brain awarded by National Institutes of Health 2017 - 2020
  • Genetics Training Grant awarded by National Institutes of Health 1979 - 2020
  • Organization and Function of Cellular Structure awarded by National Institutes of Health 1975 - 2020
  • Evaluation of PPAR-delta/gamma Agonist Therapy as a Novel Treatment Paradigm for ALS awarded by Department of Defense 2020
  • SBMA motor neuron degeneration: From cellular and molecular basis to therapy awarded by Muscular Dystrophy Association 2017 - 2020
  • Copy Number Alterations in Low Mutation Cancer awarded by National Institutes of Health 2018 - 2019
  • Mechanistic link between LRRK2, alpha-synuclein and lysosomal function in PD awarded by Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute 2018
  • Ataxin-7 oligonucleotide knock-down to treat SCA7 retinal and cerebellar disease awarded by National Institutes of Health 2014 - 2018
• Publications & Artistic Works
• 

  Selected Publications

  • Academic Articles

    • Stoyas, Colleen A., David D. Bushart, Pawel M. Switonski, Jacqueline M. Ward, Akshay Alaghatta, Mi-Bo Tang, Chenchen Niu, et al. “Nicotinamide Pathway-Dependent Sirt1 Activation Restores Calcium Homeostasis to Achieve Neuroprotection in Spinocerebellar Ataxia Type 7.” Neuron 105, no. 4 (February 19, 2020): 630-644.e9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2019.11.019.
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    • Cortes, Constanza J., and Albert R. La Spada. “TFEB dysregulation as a driver of autophagy dysfunction in neurodegenerative disease: Molecular mechanisms, cellular processes, and emerging therapeutic opportunities.” Neurobiol Dis 122 (February 2019): 83–93. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nbd.2018.05.012.
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    • Ward, Jacqueline M., Colleen A. Stoyas, Pawel M. Switonski, Farid Ichou, Weiwei Fan, Brett Collins, Christopher E. Wall, et al. “Metabolic and Organelle Morphology Defects in Mice and Human Patients Define Spinocerebellar Ataxia Type 7 as a Mitochondrial Disease.” Cell Rep 26, no. 5 (January 29, 2019): 1189-1202.e6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2019.01.028.
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    • Gilmore-Hall, Stephen, Jennifer Kuo, Jacqueline M. Ward, Rabaab Zahra, Richard S. Morrison, Guy Perkins, and Albert R. La Spada. “CCP1 promotes mitochondrial fusion and motility to prevent Purkinje cell neuron loss in pcd mice.” J Cell Biol 218, no. 1 (January 7, 2019): 206–19. https://doi.org/10.1083/jcb.201709028.
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    • Niu, Chenchen, Thazah P. Prakash, Aneeza Kim, John L. Quach, Laryssa A. Huryn, Yuechen Yang, Edith Lopez, et al. “Antisense oligonucleotides targeting mutant Ataxin-7 restore visual function in a mouse model of spinocerebellar ataxia type 7.” Sci Transl Med 10, no. 465 (October 31, 2018). https://doi.org/10.1126/scitranslmed.aap8677.
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    • Gan, Li, Mark R. Cookson, Leonard Petrucelli, and Albert R. La Spada. “Converging pathways in neurodegeneration, from genetics to mechanisms.” Nat Neurosci 21, no. 10 (October 2018): 1300–1309. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41593-018-0237-7.
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    • Bennett, Craig L., Somasish G. Dastidar, Shuo-Chien Ling, Bilal Malik, Travis Ashe, Mandheer Wadhwa, Derek B. Miller, et al. “Senataxin mutations elicit motor neuron degeneration phenotypes and yield TDP-43 mislocalization in ALS4 mice and human patients.” Acta Neuropathol 136, no. 3 (September 2018): 425–43. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00401-018-1852-9.
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    • Hsu, Cynthia L., Elian X. Lee, Kara L. Gordon, Edwin A. Paz, Wen-Chuan Shen, Kohta Ohnishi, Jill Meisenhelder, Tony Hunter, and Albert R. La Spada. “MAP4K3 mediates amino acid-dependent regulation of autophagy via phosphorylation of TFEB.” Nat Commun 9, no. 1 (March 5, 2018): 942. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-03340-7.
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    • Bennett, Craig L., and Albert R. La Spada. “Senataxin, A Novel Helicase at the Interface of RNA Transcriptome Regulation and Neurobiology: From Normal Function to Pathological Roles in Motor Neuron Disease and Cerebellar Degeneration.” Adv Neurobiol 20 (2018): 265–81. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-89689-2_10.
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