Department of Pharmacology

A new Nature Neuroscience study published by Assistant Professors of Pharmacology Thomas Longden, Ph.D., and Fabrice Dabertrand, Ph.D., determined that capillaries in the brain have a more active function that previously thought.

All it takes is the flip of a protein “switch” within the tiny wire-like capillaries of the brain to increase the blood flow that ensures optimal brain function. New research has uncovered that capillaries have the capacity to both sense brain activity and generate an electrical vasodilatory signal to evoke blood flow and direct nutrients to nourish hard-working neurons.

A team of Vermont investigators has been issued a patent for their discovery of a molecule that rescues damaged blood vessels, yet preserves healthy vessels and could serve as a springboard for a new pharmaceutical therapy with fewer side effects for hypertension – a major risk factor for cardiovascular and kidney disease that effects roughly one in three people in the U.S.

An international consortium of institutions and investigators, including Mark Nelson, Ph.D., University of Vermont professor and chair of pharmacology, recently launched a major collaborative research program to uncover mechanisms and pathways in different forms of small vessel disease.