Harvard Gazette article on new research from, Alberto Ascherio, Merit E Cudkowicz, and colleagues, first author Kjetil Bjornevik, finding that consuming omega-3 fatty acids — particularly alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), a nutrient found in foods including flaxseeds, walnuts, and chia, canola, and soybean oils — may help slow the progression of disease in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

HMS News on a new study from Isaac Chiu, Judy Lieberman, and colleagues, co-first authors Dylan V. Neel and Himanish Basu, suggesting that inflammatory proteins in innate immune system may damage neurons and could lead to ALS.

Xuan Huang and Kasper Roet from the Woolf lab introduced a new phenotypic screening platform targeting neuronal excitability. Using the fluorescent GCaMP reporter and a chemogenomic library, they were able to identify molecular targets that modulate ALS motoneuron hyper-excitability.

Yusuke Fukuda from the lab of Rosalind Segal shares new work identifying and exploring the function of an RNA-binding protein called SFPQ, which selectively binds to KIF5A--a kinesin motor protein in axons which is frequently mutated in Charcot-Marie-Tooth disorder and other neurodegenerative diseases.

Harvard Gazette article recapping an online seminar about mental health during the pandemic. Experts from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), and the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation gathered for an hour long online discussion of what may be one of the pandemic’s most painful if lesser-recognized effects.

Round up of awards and honors earned by the HBI community

Prof. Dulac was honored for deconstructing the complex behavior of parenting to the level of cell-types and their wiring, and demonstrating that the neural circuits governing both male and female-specific parenting behaviors are present in both sexes.

HMS News article on a new experimental treatment that shows promise in slowing the progression of ALS, in a clinical trial run by investigators at MGH and Amylyx Pharmaceuticals, led by PI Sabrina Paganoni and senior author Merit Cudkowicz.

Harvard Gazette article on new research from the lab of Kevin Eggan, first author Aaron Burberry, identifying a gut-brain connection in mice with a common ALS genetic mutation.

A new discovery opens doors to improving diagnostics and developing new therapy for majority of ALS patients

HMS News article on a recent study from the labs of Junying Yuan, Bruce Yankner and colleagues identifying the molecular link between aging and neurodegeneration.