News & Events

Congratulations to Ben Partridge's group for winning a National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) MIRA grant!

This grant from NIGMS will support the Partridge group’s ongoing efforts to develop supramolecular approaches to manipulate how biomolecules (such as proteins and nucleic acids) fold and assemble in biological systems. Biomolecular folding is crucial to the healthy functioning of living systems; when it goes awry, misfolded structures accumulate and contribute to a variety of diseases including Alzheimer’s and cataracts. Supported by this grant, the Partridge group will design synthetic molecules that interact with biomolecules via weak, non-covalent bonds, to shepherd them towards the correct folded structures and thereby prevent or reverse disease.

“We’re really taking just the first steps towards understanding how molecules developed in my group can interact with biological molecules”, said Partridge, “but this multi-year support from the NIH gives us the security and resources to delve into the fundamental aspects of these interactions and, hopefully, push towards new treatments for aggregation-related diseases.”

Congratulations again!