ARPA-H awards up to $28.6 million for neurodegenerative protein aggregation research

A multi-institutional project led by the Innovative Genomics Institute at the University of California, Berkeley, will receive up to $28.6 million through ARPA-H to investigate protein aggregation associated with neurodegenerative disease, according to a Stowers Institute announcement. Called NATIVE-ID, the project will initially focus on frontotemporal lobar degeneration, which shares genetic and biological features with ALS. The initial award supports two years of foundational dataset and model development.

Stowers investigator Randal Halfmann’s laboratory will receive approximately $4.1 million over two years to measure aggregation tendencies in 50,000 proteins expressed individually in yeast. Using Distributed Amphifluoric FRET, a technology that measures protein self-assembly in living cells, researchers expect to generate more than 10 billion measurements across more than 1 million samples. Experiments will examine how amino-acid sequences and conditions intended to mimic aging-related cellular disturbances influence aggregation.

Other collaborators will develop deep-learning models, generate human neurons from different genetic backgrounds and examine protein interactions and structures. The aim is to improve prediction of intrinsically disordered protein behavior and eventually support earlier detection or therapeutic development. This is a nonprofit institute’s funding announcement, not a report of completed experimental or clinical findings. Whether models trained on these datasets can predict human disease risk or guide treatment remains to be established.