Kevin Nash, PhD

I have a broad background in biochemistry, molecular biology and virology and in particular I have 20 years of experience working in the Adeno-associated virus (AAV) field. My current research focus is in neurodegenerative diseases and neurodevelopmental disorders. I have published on a number of research areas including up-regulation of proteases for removal of amyloid in animal models of Alzheimer disease, interfering RNA knock down of genes in the CNS and determination of delivery methods for AAV into the central nervous system. In neurodegeneration my research has more recently focused on immune regulation in both Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. Over the past few years we have also focused on preclinical research into the efficacy of gene therapy approaches to treat Angelman syndrome (AS) and Fragile X syndrome. As part of the FAST FIRE team we developed the first rat Angelman model. My lab is exploring an AS gene therapy approach that can rescue the AS phenotype. In Fragile X Syndrome (FXS) we are exploring a gene therapy approach using a novel construct containing active domains of the Reelin protein. We have demonstrated this approach can recover cognitive deficits in heterozygous reeler mice and FXS mice.