Associate Professor Dr. Rachita Sumbria has been awarded a new R21 grant from the National Institute on Aging (NIA).

The grant, “The impact of obesity-induced hepatic amyloid beta dysregulation on Alzheimer’s disease pathology,” focuses on understanding obesity’s effect on the liver’s regulation of amyloid beta, a protein associated with Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and its impact on the brain. The research is a collaborative effort between Dr. Sumbria and Dr. Han from the Keck Graduate Institute.

Dr. Sumbria’s lab will receive $216,701 of the total $405,849 grant to investigate the relationship between obesity and the liver-brain axis in Alzheimer’s to potentially identify new therapeutic strategies for this devastating disease. “Alzheimer’s is largely considered a disease of the brain, however, Chapman University’s work and that of others show that liver injury may be a significant contributor to the disease. This R21 grant is an opportunity to further understand the complexity of Alzheimer’s disease from the perspective of the liver and how factors like obesity can influence its progression,” said Dr. Sumbria.

Some of Dr. Sumbria’s previous research that will support this ongoing pursuit to understand  AD include “Alcohol as a Modifiable Risk Factor for Alzheimer’s Disease-Evidence from Experimental Studies” which reviewed experimental studies in models where alcohol could influence progression through brain-related mechanisms and alcohol-induced liver injury. Other foundational research includes her lab’s work in examining chronic alcohol consumption in APP/PS1 models with reduced hepatic LRP-1 expression, which also led to increased brain Aβ and behavioral changes, suggesting that hepatic LRP-1 is a critical regulator of brain amyloidosis in alcohol-dependent Alzheimer’s disease.

Pictured above: Dr. Sumbria stands with her research staff, which includes graduate and PharmD students, an undergraduate, and several post-doctorates.