News Release

Navigating uncharted territory in female brain aging

Researchers at the University of Arizona Health Sciences Center for Innovation in Brain Science received a MERIT award to continue studying the effects of estrogen on the brain during aging.

Grant and Award Announcement

University of Arizona Health Sciences

TUCSON, Arizona — Researchers at the University of Arizona Health Sciences Center for Innovation in Brain Science were awarded a $2.7 million MERIT award from the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute on Aging to continue work on the impact of estrogen as a master regulator of the brain’s bioenergetic system, which promotes glucose transport and metabolism and energy generation.

The aging transition of menopause, unique to women, is a process that dismantles both reproductive ability and, potentially, the bioenergetic capacity in the brain. Understanding how estrogen acts to promote and sustain the brain’s energy-producing system is critical to revealing changes that can increase the risk of age-associated neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer’s disease in postmenopausal women.

"From a discovery perspective, this research is unique in exploring the mechanisms underlying nuclear and mitochondrial gene expression in the aging female brain,” said Roberta Diaz Brinton, PhD, director of the Center for Innovation in Brain Science, Regents Professor and principal investigator on the grant. “By determining the mechanisms underlying the systematic dismantling of the bioenergetic system, we have the potential to inform clinical interventions to prevent or delay loss of estrogenic control and better understand patterns of how the brain ages.”

MERIT awards, initiated by the National Institute on Aging and the National Advisory Council on Aging, provide long-term support to outstanding, experienced investigators. Dr. Brinton, who is a member of the BIO5 Institute, received the initial five-year award of $1.5 million in 2017. Early analyses of preliminary data provided compelling evidence for estrogen as a systems biology metabolic regulator in the brain.

Support provided by the MERIT award will allow Dr. Brinton to continue to lead research to determine how estrogen integrates bioenergetic responses and monitors energetic demand and performance.

The study, “Aging and Estrogenic Control of the Bioenergetic System in Brain,” is supported in part by the National Institute on Aging, a division of the National Institutes of Health (R37AG053589).  

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About the Center for Innovation in Brain Science
The Center for Innovation in Brain Science (CIBS) at the University of Arizona is addressing the challenge that, in the 21st century, there is not a single cure for a neurodegenerative disease. The CIBS team is focused on four age-associated neurodegenerative diseases: Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Multiple Sclerosis and ALS (or Lou Gehrig’s disease). With expertise spanning discovery, translational, regulatory and clinical science, CIBS is shifting the research paradigm as one of the nation’s leading research centers, pioneering patient-inspired, data-driven approaches to find cures for Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases. The CIBS mission is to create innovations in brain science of the future for those who need a cure today. Find out more about how CIBS is achieving the vision of vibrant brains that last a lifetime. For more information: cibs.uahs.arizona.edu (Follow us: Facebook | Twitter).

About the University of Arizona Health Sciences
Located on campuses in Tucson, Phoenix and Gilbert, Ariz., the University of Arizona Health Sciences is one of the top-ranked academic medical centers in the southwestern United States. UArizona Health Sciences includes the College of Medicine – Phoenix, College of Medicine – Tucson, College of Nursing, Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, R. Ken Coit College of Pharmacy, and Health Sciences Global and Online. In addition, 15 UArizona Health Sciences centers and programs focus on cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, pain and addiction, and respiratory diseases; biomedical informatics, health technology innovation and simulation training; and health disparities, precision health care and treatments, and pandemic preparedness. A leader in next-generation education, research, clinical care and public outreach, UArizona Health Sciences employs nearly 5,000 people, has approximately 4,000 students and 900 faculty members, and garners more than $220 million in research grants and contracts annually. For more information: healthsciences.arizona.edu (Follow us: Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | LinkedIn | Instagram).

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