Misfolding and aggregation of proteins, such as beta-amyloid (Aß), alpha-synuclein (a-syn), tau and TAR DNA-binding protein 43 (TDP-43), have been strongly correlated with early onset of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's Disease (AD), Parkinson's Disease (PD), Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and...

Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) is one of the most common juvenile autoimmune diseases and is characterized by progressive destruction of pancreatic ß-cells. By the time of T1D diagnosis, around 70-90% of pancreatic ß-cells are already dead. T1D patients face many potential health complications and co-morbidities which lead to both personal and societal...

Crohn’s disease (CD), is an inflammatory bowel disease that affects about 3 out of 1,000 people in the U.S. It is currently not known what causes CD, but hereditary, environmental factors and a dysregulated immune system are thought to play a role. Diagnosis of CD is difficult and often involves expensive imaging and invasive biopsies. Current...

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune disease that affects about 1% of the world population and is characterized by synovial inflammation and joint destruction. Anti-citrullinated protein antibodies (ACPA) have been detected specifically in RA patients and may provide utility in RA risk assessment and diagnosis. ACPA levels correlate with...

Current neural interface and neuromodulation technologies lack the stability and specificity to target specific sensory or motor neurons within a nerve bundle. Emerging prosthetic devices for the central and peripheral nervous system require interfaces that can stimulate or sense targeted neurons with high discriminability to achieve very specific end-target...

Telomeres, tandem repeats at the ends of chromatids, are a particular point of interest in the science of aging and cancer. Telomeric DNA is lost during cellular replication, resulting in shortened chromatid length and cessation of cell division. Many age-related diseases are linked to shortened telomeres. Conversely, many cancer cells demonstrate elongated...