Dr. Brian Robinson

Canada Research Chair in Vascular and Metabolic Biology
Tier 1 - January 1, 2001
Health

Research Involves

The genetic basis of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease; the genetic causes of Saguenay-Lac-St. Jean COX Deficiency; causes of other diseases that impair the energy metabolism

Research Relevance

Identifying the genes and the metabolic mechanisms responsible for these diseases will help in their diagnosis and treatment

Unlocking the Secrets of Lou Gehrig’s Disease (ALS)

Brian Robinson is on the trail of the cause of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), better known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.

The fatal neuromuscular disease is best known as the cause of the muscular weakness and eventual paralysis that claimed the life of Lou Gehrig, the famed New York Yankees baseball player. But Gehrig was only the most famous person to suffer from the wasting disease. In the United States alone, 15 people are diagnosed with it every day.

Robinson’s research at the University of Toronto has led him to believe the causes of ALS will be found in the mechanisms in cells that create and destroy oxygen free radicals—groups of molecules or atoms with one unpaired electron. By studying this metabolic mechanism, Robinson and his team will trace the genetic cause of the abnormalities in the production, or rates of destruction, of the molecules. Making those connections and identifying the genetic markers will help with the diagnosis and could lead to new treatments for ALS.

Robinson is one of the world’s leading authorities on the biochemistry of lactic acid and its metabolism. This research chair will help him to explore diseases associated with this and other metabolic disorders. They can result in psychomotor retardation, degeneration of the neurological system, liver disease, diabetes, and heart disease. Robinson is also looking for the gene associated with a form of human cytochrome oxidase (COX) deficiency found only in the Saguenay-Lac-St. Jean area of Quebec. The deficiency involves the liver and the brain of affected patients, and appears to be inherited.

This research chair will ensure that research so vital to the people of the Saguenay-Lac-St. Jean area will proceed, providing the hope of treatments that do not now exist.

For further information, please contact Dr. Brian Robinson using the Email contact form or by phone at 416 813-5989