Waisman Center at UW–Madison in Madison, Wisconsin Receives a Five-Year NIH Grant to Study Synapse Development in Down Syndrome: Focus on the CBLN2 Gene, Built
MADISON, Wisconsin — The Waisman Center at the University of Wisconsin–Madison announced on November 3 that Waisman investigator André Sousa, PhD, associate professor of neuroscience, has received a five-year, multimillion-dollar grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to investigate synapse development in Down syndrome.
According to the center, Down syndrome is a genetic condition resulting from a triplicated 21st chromosome, and people with the condition often have deficits in synapse number and structure; synapses are the connections between neurons that allow communication between cells. Sousa has been investigating the gene CBLN2, which is crucial to synapse development and function, and found that the expression of CBLN2 is downregulated in Down syndrome. The new grant allows the team to dig deeper into synaptic deficiencies in Down syndrome and the role of CBLN2 in synapse function and development. Sousa said the team is trying to understand the underlying molecular mechanisms of these deficiencies.
The center states that Sousa previously received a pilot grant from the Ann Dewey Down Syndrome Catalyst Fund, a fund established by the Dewey family to support early-stage research in Down syndrome, and that the data generated with that support made the NIH application possible; Sousa was one of the fund's first recipients. The project will bring together expertise from across the Waisman Center, including collaborations with Waisman investigators Anita Bhattacharyya, PhD, associate professor of cell and regenerative biology, and Qiang Chang, PhD, professor of medical genetics and neurology and Waisman Center director. The Waisman Center is at 1500 Highland Avenue in Madison.
来源链接：威斯康星大学麦迪逊分校韦斯曼中心发布（waisman.wisc.edu）： https://www.waisman.wisc.edu/2026/11/03/ann-dewey-catalyst-fund-helps-launch-major-nih-grant-to-advance-down-syndrome-research/
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Source: Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin–Madison
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 神经科学实验室研究（示意）。（Wikimedia Commons／CC BY 4.0）|Neuroscience laboratory research (illustrative). (Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 4.0)
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