2021 Annual Report

Van Andel Institute Principal Investigators
20
DEPARTMENT OF NEURODEGENERATIVE
SCIENCE (CONTINUED)
Rita Guerreiro, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Dr. Rita Guerreiro parses the
genetic variations that contribute
to neurodegenerative diseases
such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s,
dementia with Lewy bodies and
frontotemporal dementia. Her research has led to new
insights into the genetic contributors to these diseases,
which currently have no cure and no treatments that
slow progression.
Michael Henderson, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Dr. Michael Henderson
investigates the causes of
neurodegenerative diseases like
Parkinson’s and dementia with
Lewy bodies, and the factors
that control disease progression. He hopes to translate
his findings into new therapies that slow or stop this
progression.
Qiang Zhu, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Dr. Qiang Zhu investigates
the genetic, epigenetic and
cellular factors that lead to
neurodegenerative diseases
such as ALS and frontotemporal
dementia. To date, his work has revealed the complex
mechanisms underlying the most common genetic cause
for both of these diseases — an insight that has provided
novel targets for the development of new therapies.
Department of
Cell Biology
Our health, and consequently our lives, depend on the
coordinated activities of our individual cells; diseases
arise when the activities of these individual cells become
derailed. Through combined expertise in different cell
types and communication mechanisms and using stateof-the-art
approaches, scientists in VAI’s Department of
Cell Biology pursue fundamental research to understand
how our cells grow, communicate, survive, assemble into
tissues and organs, respond to the environment, and
change with age. This transformative work will yield new
diagnostic and treatment strategies to improve the quality
of life for people with cancer, bone diseases and rare
disorders.
Tao Yang, Ph.D.
Interim Chair and Associate
Professor
Dr. Tao Yang studies the signaling
systems that govern skeletal stem
cells and the role they play in
diseases such as osteoarthritis
and osteoporosis. Bones are the largest producer of
adult stem cells, which mature into cartilage, fat or bone
tissue — a process that falters with age. Yang seeks a
better understanding of these systems in search of new
treatments for degenerative bone disorders and other
skeletal aging.
Stephanie Grainger, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Stem cells give rise to every cell
type in the human body and play
important roles in health and
disease. Dr. Stephanie Grainger
seeks to understand how these
special cells develop, how they are maintained, and how
they can become cancerous, with the goal of developing
new strategies for combating cancer.