Welcome to the Posse de Chaves Lab at the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada. We are part of the Department of Pharmacology, the Centre for Neuroscience and the Signal Transduction Research Group.
We study the role of lipids and lipoproteins in the life and death of neurons and glial cells. Our studies focus on cholesterol and sphingolipids.
Neuronal death in adult organisms leads to neurodegeneration and disease. Neurodegeneration has been linked to changes in lipid homeostasis.
Current projects focus on understanding the role of cholesterol and lipoproteins in neuronal death in Alzheimer’s disease, the regulation of neuronal survival by sphingolipids, and the role of lipid rafts in myelination. Our approach involves a combination of biochemical, molecular and cell biological techniques.
Our aim is to generate new knowledge relevant to the development of therapeutic approaches to treatment of neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and demyelinating disorders.
Our research is possible thanks to the support of the following agencies:
