UNC Pembroke was awarded a landmark patent for compounds developed in Dr. Ben Bahr’s lab that enhance the enzyme cathepsin B, boosting the brain’s ability to clear toxic protein deposits. This breakthrough holds promise for treating Alzheimer’s disease, traumatic brain injury, and mild cognitive impairment—offering hope for therapies that could slow or even reverse the progression of dementia. Dr. Bahr envisions this discovery as a foundation for future pharmaceutical development that could change the course of neurodegenerative disease treatment.
Alzheimer's Disease Research Lab
The Alzheimer’s Disease Research Lab at UNC Pembroke is dedicated to tackling one of the most urgent health challenges of our time. With the rapid aging of populations worldwide, Alzheimer’s disease is emerging as a critical public health concern — one that demands innovative approaches to prevention and treatment.
Under the leadership of Dr. Ben Bahr, William C. Friday Endowed Chair and Distinguished
Professor, the lab explores how imbalances in the brain’s ability to clear proteins
contribute to dementia. Dr. Bahr and his team have pioneered discoveries in lysosomal
regulation pathways and developed patented compounds that show promise for slowing
or even reversing cognitive decline. Recognized nationally and internationally for his contributions to neuroscience, Dr.
Bahr has more than 150 publications, multiple patents, and awards including the UNC
System’s Oliver Max Gardner Award — the highest faculty honor in the system. Beyond groundbreaking research, the lab
is deeply committed to mentoring students, equipping them with hands-on experiences
that prepare them to contribute to future discoveries.Advancing Research
LANDMARK PATENT
About Dr. Bahr
Dr. Ben Bahr earned his PhD in chemistry from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and spent nearly 12 years on the faculty at the University of Connecticut before joining UNC Pembroke in 2009 as the William C. Friday Endowed Chair and Distinguished Professor.
An internationally recognized neuroscientist, Dr. Bahr has presented his research in 16 countries, authored more than 150 publications and holds patents for first-in-class drugs targeting neurodegenerative diseases. He is an active member of UNCP’s Biotechnology Center and the European Task Force on Brain and Lysosomal Storage Diseases. His mentorship and research excellence have earned him the Council on Undergraduate Research’s Outstanding Mentor Award (2012, 2021), the Governor James E. Holshouser Jr. Award for Excellence in Public Service (2013), and the UNC System’s highest honor, the Oliver Max Gardner Award (2017), recognizing faculty whose work makes “the greatest contribution to the welfare of the human race.”
- Developing strategies to enhance a protein clearance pathway that is vital to reduce protein accumulation events linked to Alzheimer’s pathology.
- The Bahr Clearance Strategy significantly reduces Aß42, APP-CTFs, and pathogenic tau in models of Alzheimer’s, as well as ameliorates synaptic and behavioral deficits.
- Studying how protein clearance improves synaptic integrity, memory processes and the maintenance of specialized axons and dendrites of neurons in the brain (right).
- Drug discovery efforts may also lead to protective clearance in early dementia, Parkinson’s disease, traumatic brain injury and macular degeneration.
Connect With Us
