Assistant Professor of Neurology · Harvard Medical School
Assistant Professor of Neurology · Brigham and Women's Hospital

snuber@bwh.harvard.edu
Hale Building for Transformative Medicine, 60 Fenwood Road, Boston, MA

Dr. Nuber has long-term experience in the generation and characterization of transgenic (tg) and toxin-induced rodent models of Parkinson’s disease (PD) and Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB). Briefly, during her Ph.D. at the University Hospital of Tuebingen, she analyzed novel tet-inducible α-synuclein (αS) tg mice in longitudinal studies. In her postgraduate research at Tuebingen and at UC San Diego, Dr. Nuber developed several single and double-mutant αS models and studied the impact of protein-protein interactions and environmental parkinsonian stressors as inducers of conformational αS changes in mouse and rat brain and cell culture.

At the Ann Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases, BWH & HMS, Dr. Nuber created completely novel mutant mice that are based on abolishing normal αS tetramers. The resultant excess αS monomers cluster in lipid-and vesicle-rich brain aggregates. The outcome is a progressive motor and L-DOPA responsive syndrome resembling PD. The fully penetrant phenotype indicates tetramers are required for the physical state of αS, with attendant therapeutic implications.

Dr. Nuber and her lab are fully committed creating unique models for PD and DLB and testing small compound therapeutics to stabilize physiological tetramers and decrease the levels αS aggregates and neurotoxicity in PD.

Categories: Genomics, Precision Health