Nance Lab
Disease-Directed Engineering
Welcome!
One in 3 people are affected by a neurological condition, which is a leading cause of disability and illness worldwide. The 10 conditions with highest age-standardized disability adjusted life years (DALYs) include stroke, migraine, Alzheimer’s and other dementias, diabetic neuropathy, meningitis, cancer, epilepsy, neonatal encephalopathy, neurological complications due to preterm birth, and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Of note, four of these 10 conditions - epilepsy, neonatal encephalopathy, neurological complications due to preterm birth, and ASD – impact newborns and children. In addition, 2.5 million babies die each year within the first month of life, with the leading cause of death in this period being preterm birth (11% of all births) and perinatal asphyxia, where oxygen and blood flow to the brain is lost. There are no curative therapies for any neurological disorder, and no therapeutic options available for newborns born with a brain disorder, or for the up-to 50% of surviving babies who will go on to develop a significantly altered state of brain function. Therapeutic delivery to the brain is challenging due to complex, dynamic, and highly selective physiological barriers and over 92% of neurological treatments fail when they reach human testing.
Our lab is focused on three primary research areas to tackle these challenges and advance therapeutics to the clinic for patients with neurological disease, with a specific focus on newborns and children. These three research thrusts are: (1) develop tunable, developmentally appropriate living tissue models of brain disease; (2) establish design principles for therapeutic delivery to the brain; and (3) evaluate therapeutics for improving brain health in newborns and children in clinically relevant animal models of brain disease, which can then be translated to human disease.
Our research is carried out by team of creative individuals who are at the core of what makes the Nance Lab such a unique and fulfilling place to work.
Check out our current areas of research below!
Lab News & Events
Land and People Acknowledgement
At the University of Washington, we carry out our research and work, learn, and teach on the land of the Coast Salish peoples. The land which touches the shared waters of all tribes and bands within the Duwamish, Puyallup, Suquamish, Tulalip and Muckleshoot nations.
We pay our respect to this land, its shared waters, and those who have been stewards of this land throughout generations into present day, and we honor with gratitude the Indigenous peoples who actively create, shape, and contribute to our communities today.
To learn more about the tribal lands on which the UW exists, or the tribal lands in your own community, see https://native-land.ca/