Dr. Naruhiko Sahara has been selected as the
2012 Thomas H. Maren Junior Investigator Awardee
The Thomas H. Maren Junior Investigator Funds supports promising young investigators in the UF College of Medicine.
Dr. Sahara is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Neuroscience and in the Center for Translational Research in Neurodegenerative. Dr. Sahara’s research involves the study to understand mechanism of Alzheimer’s disease and related neurodegenerative disorders. He has a solid track record in this research field with the aspect of protein biochemistry and neurochemistry and currently works on mouse modeling for Alzheimer’s disease and related neurodegenerative disorders. Over the past 10 years Dr. Sahara has studied tau protein biochemistry, and has established a protocol for examining tau biochemical abnormalities in tau transgenic mice, which is now a standard protocol in the field. He has been working on the research understanding the mechanisms underlying tau dysfunction. His primary goal is not only the development and evaluation of therapeutic approaches for neurodegenerative disease but it is also establishing a novel research field to connect between basic neurochemistry and brain aging.