University of Denver Spring 2026

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I have a social and moral responsibility to help. Sunil Kumar ”

disrupt harmful protein clumping while sparing the normal function of proteins. This approach specifically targets impaired protein behavior and toxic pathways, leading to potentially fewer side effects. The lab’s latest findings demonstrate the effectiveness of these molecules across multiple models, suggesting their potential to modify disease progression by slowing or even halting key pathological processes in Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease. Discoveries from the Kumar Lab have grown exponentially in recent years, thanks in part to the contributions of undergraduate and graduate students like Ryan Dohoney and Charles Baysah, PhD candidates in organic chemistry. Together, the team developed a high-throughput platform—capable of processing large numbers of tasks and data points quickly and efficiently—to create these synthetic protein mimetics. At first, producing just 10 molecules

Sunil Kumar works with one of the researchers on his team at the Kumar Lab.

Considering those statistics can be sobering. “I have a social and moral responsibility to help,” Kumar says. “We get samples from these patients, and I feel terrible that we don’t have an effective drug to help them.” Dohoney knows that feeling all too well. He spent years watching his grandmother live with Alzheimer’s disease, so the longing for a treatment feels deeply familiar and drives him even further. Even with one of the greatest breakthroughs in neurodegenerative diseases at their fingertips, the researchers still have a mountain to climb, and the Kumar Lab needs significant funding to continue its research. They will continue to test the drug in mouse models, with the goal of ultimately placing effective treatments into the hands of those who need them. For them, 2050 isn’t a deadline but a glimmer of hope.

required 200 steps—like building something brick by brick. Now, they can generate many more molecules with far fewer steps, more like an automated robotic construction system. “We’ve become a full one-stop shop,” Dohoney says. “Once we make [these mimetics], we’re able to test them, see the results, and take them into the live models. Our platform has been very effective at identifying lead compounds for various diseases and not just neurodegenerative disorders.” Looking to the future As people age, the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease rapidly increases. At age 70 and older, there’s a 10% chance of getting the disease; at age 80 and older, that chance doubles.

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UNIVERSITY OF DENVER MAGAZINE | SPRING 2026