Sim Lab: Projects

We have several active projects in the lab right now.

1. Human prion disease: The hunt for new human prion strains and potential cases of human "chronic wasting disease" (CWD)

In collaboration with the Public Health Agency of Canada and the Prion Diseases Section of the National Microbiology Lab in Winnipeg, we are using novel methods of strain typing or "fingerprinting" human prion disease cases to look for new strains or any shifts in patterns over time. different strains of prions. These cultures undergo pathology as seen in vivo. We are adapting these cultures to different brain regions, different prion strains, and different host species. We are investigating why different prion strains preferentially target particular brain regions. We are also investigating which death pathways are activated early in prion infection, with the goal of discovering treatment targets.

2. Alzheimer's disease

We are applying prion science techniques to the world of amyloid beta (Abeta) and tau, which are proteins that accumulate in Alzheimer's disease. This includes developing a method for photolabelling small pathogenic particles of Abeta and tau to better characterize which particles are most pathogenic.

3. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)

We are also applying prion-based concepts to ALS, another protein folding disease, to determine whether distinct conformations of the protein TDP-43 may lead to different strains of ALS.

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Last updated: 2025-07-14