Research targets central nervous system disorders

Breakthroughs in brain disorders such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases are sorely needed. Six millions Americans live with these conditions, and there’s no cure.

At the UNT Health Science Center in Fort Worth, researchers like Xiaowei Dong, PhD, are working to change that.

With a $146,000 grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, part of the National Institutes of Health, she is investigating how to help the brain re-grow cells lost to disease.

Dr. Dong will research ways to deliver nerve growth factor by safely penetrating the blood-brain barrier. The blood vessels that supply the brain and spinal cord block the passage of certain substances.

Her two-year project uses nanoparticles smaller than the particles that make up wood smoke.

Dr. Dong is Assistant Professor in Pharmaceutical Sciences at the new UNT System College of Pharmacy that opened in fall 2013 on the UNTHSC campus. This is her first NIH funding grant. Her research partner for this project is Shaohua Yang, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Pharmacology & Neuroscience.

Recent News

Abe Clark
  • Research
|Mar 28, 2024

Dr. Abe Clark honored with international research award

Abbot “Abe” Clark, PhD, FARVO, FAAO, regents professor of pharmacology and neuroscience in the School of Biomedical Sciences at The University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth, has received the International Society for Eye Research 2024 Ernst H. Bárány Prize.   The awar...
Processed With Lensa With Pt12 Filter
  • Research
|Mar 28, 2024

Dr. Steven Romero receives American Physiological Society award for excellence in research

Dr. Steven Romero, associate professor of Physiology and Anatomy at the School of Biomedical Sciences at The University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth, was named the 2024 Henry Pickering Bowditch Award Lecturer by the American Physiological Society. The lectureship is awarded to ...
Screenshot 2024 03 28 At 8.50.12 am
  • Our People
|Mar 28, 2024

Physical therapy student lands prestigious role in national organization

When Jonathan Hansen was an undergraduate intern at Texas Health Arlington Memorial Hospital, he encountered a man who had just suffered a stroke. The patient’s right side was completely paralyzed. Hansen, now a first-year student in The University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Wort...
Jackie In Dc
  • Our People
|Mar 27, 2024

Personalized Health and Well-Being student repays generosity through advocacy

In 2019, The University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth student Jacqueline Green said she felt hopeless. She became pregnant while experiencing hard financial times, and she didn’t have insurance. Compounding her stress was terrible grief. Her mother-in-law suddenly passed away,...