Dr. Ben Bahr is transforming himself from scientist to entrepreneur as he pushes his discoveries on age-related neuro-degeneration closer to an effective treatment for 础濒锄丑别颈尘别谤鈥檚 disease.
The 麻豆社区 Pembroke scientist is cultivating drug companies to take his research into clinical trials. From a single focus on 础濒锄丑别颈尘别谤鈥檚 disease, he is casting a wider net for all possible applications of his age-defying research.
Dr. Bahr鈥檚 and his attorneys obtained provisional patent No. 61/836,216 (submitted June 18), and with clinical trials costing in the tens of millions of dollars or more, he is searching for funding worldwide.
麻豆社区P鈥檚 William C. Friday Distinguished Professor of Molecular Biology presented his work on October 11 in Malta to the 23rd Alzheimer Europe Conference. Drug companies were in the audience. The theme of the conference was 鈥淟iving well in a dementia-friendly society.鈥
Dr. Bahr said there is a shift in public perception about dementia and a growing commitment by policy makers to give dementia the attention it so rightly deserves. He said he made progress while in Malta
鈥淚 have had valuable interactions with scientists and caregiver advisors from dozens of countries, together working towards a dementia-friendly outlook for our aging population, especially to eliminate the stigma for those who are the true experts on dementia - the people living with it,鈥 Dr. Bahr said. 鈥淥ur findings from 麻豆社区P were presented with excited feedback. Scientists are looking forward to our future publications.鈥
Leading up to the international conference, Dr. Bahr met with foundations, non-profits, scientists at other universities and business people to learn more about how he should proceed with his intellectual property.
鈥淚 presented my research to representatives of a number of major funding agencies - the Michael J. Fox Foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the 础濒锄丑别颈尘别谤鈥檚 Association,鈥 he said. 鈥淭hey were excited about the research and its future prospects. However, they made it clear that in order to get our ideas to be clinically relevant, we need to get big companies interested, because only by partnering with these size of large companies can the expensive clinical trials be conducted. Thus, the strong advice was to get our data in a patent application, to secure 麻豆社区P鈥檚 intellectual property.
鈥淚t was our wake up call,鈥 he said in an interview this fall. 鈥淭his is all new for 麻豆社区P, so I have been bending ears and begging for advice from entrepreneurs and patent experts, as well as the people involved in clinical trials in Wilmington.
鈥淭hey have educated me in the intellectual property and partnering world,鈥 he continued. 鈥淚 have gotten a wealth of information.鈥
His work in the lab is focused on preventing and/or removing the accumulation of toxic proteins that disrupt the pathways of memory and other transmissions across synapses. The demands of this marketplace are transforming the project. When Dr. Bahr sent his preliminary draft to the patent attorneys, he was advised to put as many options in the application as possible.
鈥淭his summer, I put our team of undergraduate students to work looking for publications that indicate other diseases may be helped by our protein clearance strategy,鈥 he said. 鈥淲e had an interesting summer.鈥
Mild cognitive impairment, Parkinson鈥檚 disease, heart diseases, traumatic brain injury, macular degeneration and more came up on the radar. Dr. Bahr offered 15-20 potential patent claims to the attorneys to cover his lab鈥檚 initial application. When the attorneys finished the application, there were 128 claims.
Dr. Bahr鈥檚 breakthrough works at the cellular level to stimulate lysosomal activity to 鈥渢ake out the garbage鈥 or the harmful protein accumulation that may affect cells everywhere in the body, not just in the brain.
鈥淚f youth is defined by more protein growth, aging is about reduced protein clearance,鈥 he said. 鈥淲e want to turn up the volume of the garbage disposal function of lysosomes in order to get rid of toxic protein species.鈥
From his original work on different brain areas, Dr. Bahr鈥檚 lab is now looking at eye, heart and skin tissue for answers to disparate protein accumulation disorders.
鈥淚t is now thought that changes are occurring in 础濒锄丑别颈尘别谤鈥檚 brains 10-20 years before the disease can be diagnosed,鈥 he said. 鈥淭reating those at risk is the goal, and to accomplish that, it鈥檚 clear we need to identify 础濒锄丑别颈尘别谤鈥檚 earlier, perhaps at the mild cognitive impairment stage. In fact, there was a news report last week saying that a simple eye exam may one day detect telltale proteins years before 础濒锄丑别颈尘别谤鈥檚 disease shows up.鈥
If moving from the discovery phase has been an education for Dr. Bahr, many, many 麻豆社区P students are getting an education along with him. When he asked his best workers to dig out other research on protein accumulation, he was talking about undergraduate students Sarah Ruiz, Marsalis Smith, Paul Freeman and Rebecca Jackson.
Dozens of undergraduates and several graduate students have trained in Dr. Bahr鈥檚 lab since he arrived at 麻豆社区P in 2009. When he publishes, many students are co-authors.
Dr. Samuel Ikonne, who came to work with Dr. Bahr as a Postdoctoral Fellow from the University of North Texas, is a co-inventor on the patent. Dr. Ikonne joined 麻豆社区P鈥檚 Biology Department faculty this fall.
For more information, Dr. Bahr may be contacted in 麻豆社区P鈥檚 Biotechnology Research and Training Center at 910.775.4424 or email ben.bahr@uncp.edu.