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The University of Mississippi

Pharmacology Professor Awarded NIA Grant for Research on Aging Brain

Posted on: January 17th, 2019 by herman

January 17, 2019

OXFORD, Miss. – Nicole Ashpole, an assistant professor of pharmacology in the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy, has been awarded a grant from the National Institute on Aging to research memory impairments in advanced age.

Nicole Ashpole

Nicole Ashpole

With this award, Ashpole and her team will explore a specific hormone in the body that decreases with age, as well as its ability to communicate with the brain and its effects on learning and memory. The hormone is insulin-like growth factor-1, or IGF-1.

Ashpole hopes to gain insight into IGF-1’s influences on cognition and its importance to the overall function of the aging brain.

“Individuals suffering from cognitive impairment in advanced age are faced with the loss of independence, declining health and increased financial burden,” said Ashpole, who serves as a faculty member in the Department of BioMolecular Sciences. “Understanding how the brain ages and identifying potential therapies are critical to alleviating some of these stressors associated with living longer lives.”