UCF College of Medicine Expert to Discuss Aging, Neurodegenerative Diseases

By Zenaida Gonzalez Kotala Sept. 18, 2009

Photo: Jacque Brund

Professor Ella Bossy-Wetzel shows her research team a sample in her lab.

Full Photo

University of Central Florida professor Ella Bossy-Wetzel will unravel the mysteries of aging and neurodegeneration at the upcoming College of Medicine Luminary Series program on Wednesday, Sept. 30.

The lecture program, which is free and open to the public, begins at 5 p.m. with light hors d’oeuvres at the Orlando Museum of Art, 2416 N. Mills Ave. Bossy-Wetzel will speak at 6 p.m.

Bossy-Wetzel, an associate professor in the Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences in the College of Medicine, and her research team explore the causes of neurodegeneration – the decline of the central nervous system, which includes the brain and the spinal cord. The process can happen randomly as people age.

Millions of Americans suffer from Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s and Parkinson’s’ diseases, which are a result of the destruction and loss of nerve cells.

“While physicians can recognize and identify the clinical symptoms of most neurodegenerative disorders, current treatments merely treat the symptoms and cannot cure the diseases,” Bossy-Wetzel said. “Therefore, new discoveries are urgently needed that will lead to therapies that can prevent the relentless and progressive neuronal loss in these common disorders.”

The mission of this passionate research team is to discover why nerve cells die in hopes of finding ways to slow or even stop the process. Her lab, which includes an international team of scientists, focuses on mitochondria– the powerhouse of the cell that generates the energy that nerve cells need to communicate. The mitochondria stop working at the beginning of the neurodegenerative process, and the communication between nerve cells shuts down, which can result in memory loss, dementia and motor deficits.

Bossy-Wetzel joined UCF in 2007. Three National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants fund her work. Prior to joining UCF, Bossy-Wetzel worked at the Burnham Institute for Medical Research in La Jolla, Calif. Throughout her career, she has received numerous prestigious and competitive awards from organizations such as the NIH, the Human Frontier Science Program, the Swiss National Funds, the American Parkinson’s Disease Foundation and the Hereditary Disease Foundation.

Her groundbreaking research articles have been cited more than 7,800 times, and she serves several times a year on grant review boards for the NIH, the National Science Foundation and the Swiss National Funds. 

Sponsors include Dean Mead and Fifth Third Bank.  RSVPs are required and can be made by calling 407-823-2412 or e-mailing comrsvp@mail.ucf.edu by Sept. 25.

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