Research summary
Alzheimer’s disease affects 50 million people worldwide, yet we continue to lack effective treatments for it. Dr. Iva Zovkic, Canada Research Chair in Behavioural Epigenetics, is working to change this.
Zovkic has already discovered that depleting a novel epigenetic regulator known to scientists as H2A.Z improves memory. She and her research team are now building on this knowledge by studying how H2A.Z and other gene regulators affect memory in order to help develop new treatments. Specifically, they are examining how H2A.Z function is altered by acetylation (a process that regulates various cellular functions) and how H2A.Z and other H2A variants work together to influence memory.