AstraZeneca, Tufts University's School of Medicine and Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences are collaborating to establish a team of postdoctoral researchers who will work to advance understanding of diseases and disorders of the brain, including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, neurodevelopmental and autism spectrum disorders. As part of a three-year agreement, the new team will conduct laboratory research into biological targets of interest in neuroscience.

Stephen Moss, Ph.D., professor of neuroscience at Tufts, will lead the team to explore neurological pathways implicated in brain disease. Moss, an expert in synaptic inhibition, a determinant of neuronal excitability and behavior, will serve as principal investigator and oversee the research, along with John Dunlop and Nick Brandon from AstraZeneca. "This collaboration offers an opportunity to translate basic science findings into new treatments for a range of unmet clinical needs," said Moss.

The group's research will complement the work of the AstraZeneca Neuroscience Innovative Medicines Unit, a small team that advances neuroscience discovery research and early development exclusively via external partners in biotech, CROs, pharma and academia.