2022 Annual Report

New programs catalyze discovery by fostering collaboration
In science, innovation and collaboration are a powerful combination that fuel breakthroughs and drive discovery.
Van Andel Institute’s West Michigan Neurodegenerative Diseases (MiND) Program and Metabolism and Nutrition (MeNu) Program are prime examples of what we
can achieve when the brightest minds combine their collective brainpower to tackle big questions.
RESEARCH
Established in 2021, these programs are designed to accelerate our understanding of neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, as well
as the impact of diet and nutrition on human health at a molecular level. The goal? To transform research findings into much-needed prevention and treatment
strategies that improve and enhance lives.
The programs also provide crucial funding to Institute scientists to explore unanswered questions and gather early data required to apply for future grant funding
— an important mechanism that multiplies impact.
MiND Program
Since its inception, the MiND Program has developed and implemented several
projects to search for the origins of neurodegenerative diseases.
One is West Michigan’s first neurodegeneration-specific biobank, which
collects blood samples from people with Parkinson’s disease. These
samples are analyzed and compared to samples from people without
the disease, which helps scientists identify differences that might
contribute to disease onset and progression. To date, more than
90 participants have donated blood to this groundbreaking project.
The second project is the Brain Biobank, another first of its kind
project in West Michigan. Located within VAI’s accredited Biorepository,
the Brain Biobank drives insight and discovery by providing scientists with
the samples needed to investigate the underpinnings of Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s
and other neurodegenerative diseases.
Both projects are possible thanks to the selfless donations of volunteers in
Grand Rapids and beyond.
MeNu Program
As of year-end 2022, the MeNu Program has funded 12 pilot projects designed to
reach new vistas in metabolism research. This catalytic pilot funding
fosters collaboration, fuels the development of new scientific tools,
kick-starts high-risk/high-reward research, and generates early
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data that can lead to additional grant funding. The program has
also granted four postdoctoral fellow awards.
The approach is already bearing fruit: A groundbreaking study
on how the immune system is fueled to fight infection was
published in the journal Cell Metabolism 1 and a new method
developed with MeNu funding was published in the prestigious
journal Nature Protocols and led to a $3.25 million federal grant to
explore the metabolism of immune cells. 2
MeNu also is home to a world-class mass spectrometry platform, a suite of
technologies that allows scientists to investigate metabolism in stunning
molecular detail. Its installation in 2021 places VAI among the best institutions
for this platform in Michigan and in the U.S. — a stunning achievement that will
support discovery for years to come.
Funding Acknowledgments
Research reported in this publication was supported by:
1
Van Andel Institute (Russell Jones), and an Allen Distinguished Investigator Award, a Paul G. Allen Frontiers Group advised grant of the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation (Russell Jones). Jones is supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious
Diseases of the National Institutes of Health under award no. R01AI165722. Support for authors on this project include a postdoctoral fellowship award from Fonds de la Recherche du Québec–Santé (FRQS) (Dahabieh); a VAI Metabolism and Nutrition (MeNu)
Program Pathway-to-Independence Award (Longo); National Cancer Institute award no. T32CA251066-01A1) (Watson) and award no. R35CA2202901 (DeBerardinis); and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator Program (DeBerardinis).
2
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases under award no. R01AI165722 (Russell Jones).
The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health or other funders.
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