Christina Sigurdson, D.V.M., Ph.D.

Javits Award
Image
photo of Christine Sigurdson
Institution
University of California, San Diego, CA

Dr. Sigurdson’s research focuses on understanding the cell and molecular biology of prion-mediated neurodegeneration and cross-species transmission. Her team discovered that heparan sulfate is a key co-factor for prion protein scrapie (PrPSc) fibril formation, which when reduced, results in decreased prion plaque deposition in the brain and prolonged survival in a number of human prion disease models. Her project aims to continue her in-depth mechanistic analyses of how PrPSc in prion-infected neurons disrupts synaptic signaling. This impactful work represents the first substantial phosphoproteomics study of infected synapses in the prion field and could be applicable beyond the prion field with implications for Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative diseases.