Two faculty members in the Department of Neurology, Brittney Davis, PharmD., and Karen Jaunarajs, Ph. D., are recent recipients of grants from the Adair Family Junior Faculty Development Fund. This new grant, created specifically for Department of Neurology faculty, was established to support young faculty and their career development.
Brittney Davis, PharmD., assistant professor in the Department of Neurology, will receive $50,000 for her research titled “Pharmacogenetics of Sphingosine-1 Phosphate Receptor Modulator Response in Multiple Sclerosis.”
“It is a tremendous honor and privilege to be selected to receive an Adair Family Junior Faculty Development grant,” said Davis. “As a pharmacist, I recognize the importance of leveraging genetics to customize medication therapy and improve treatment outcomes. This award offers me a vital opportunity to make impactful contributions to accelerate and lay the foundation for precision medicine in multiple sclerosis. I am grateful to Mr. Adair for his generous gift, which will allow me to expand my focus and carry out new research to improve treatment strategies for patients with multiple sclerosis.”
Karen Jaunarajs, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Neurology, will receive $50,000 for her research titled “Epigenetic Entrainment of Striatal Engram-Like Neurons Across the Time Course of LID Development.”
“With this support, we will be able to pursue new areas of research aimed at treatment and prevention of common side effects of Parkinson disease medication,” said Jaunarajs. “Many people with Parkinson disease who receive dopamine replacement therapies suffer from abnormal involuntary movements, called dyskinesias, that develop after prolonged exposure and persist despite mitigating approaches. The work supported by the Adair fund will seek to understand how these side effects develop and whether targeting specific neurons that 'encode' the maladaptive response to these drugs can mitigate dyskinesia to prolong the usefulness of Parkinson disease drug therapies.”
Charles Adair currently serves as a board member for the UAB Health System and UAB Health Services Foundation in Birmingham. He has previously served on the board of the Montgomery Area Red Cross, the Montgomery Small Business Incubator, the United Way, Leadership Montgomery, the Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce, and others. His generous gift of $100,000 will benefit both of the recipients in their research and clinical endeavors.