Nance Lab
Disease-Directed Engineering
Welcome!
Motivation & Need: 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, including 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 also challenging due to complex, dynamic, and highly selective physiological barriers and over 92% of neurological treatments fail when they reach human testing.
Our Approach: 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. We use a combination of neuroscience, nanotechnology, data science, and imaging tools to study the brain in response to injury or disease and develop effective therapeutics that can be translated to treat human neurological disease. To learn more about our research projects, tools, training, and collaborations, check out one of the areas below!
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. To learn about current and previous lab members, head to our People page.
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; this land 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/