Southern Illinois University Edwardsville School of Pharmacy researchers have been awarded a five-year, $2.65 million grant to battle Alzheimer’s disease.

The funds come from the National Institutes of Health. SIUE’s research team, which includes medicinal chemists, pharmacologists and pharmaceutics experts, will use the money to develop a drug for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.

“The National Institutes of Health has placed a significant amount of responsibility in our hands,” said Ken Witt, principal investigator and associate professor in the School of Pharmacy. “Now, we can truly make things happen. Securing the funding is merely putting needed fuel in the tank and getting those tires moving faster.”

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Gireesh Gupchup, dean of the SIUE School of Pharmacy, is confident the investment will be put to good use.

“Receiving the NIH RO1 grant sets the stage for Dr. Witt and his team to develop breakthroughs in Alzheimer’s treatment,” Gupchup said. “This further emphasizes the school’s commitment to research and drug discovery.”

Initial investigations by the research team began more than 10 years ago. Witt said the program has now reached a critical point as it begins a period of developing, testing and retesting various drug candidates in a series of early stage models.

“While this process is admittedly complex when viewed from the outside, it is actually highly regulated and based on well-established criteria for moving drugs forward, and eventually getting them to early stage human trials,” Witt said.