Amalgamated Transit Union contributes new funds to support Dr. John Roder’s research

 

The Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) has donated $51,000 to support neurobiology research conducted by Senior Investigator Dr. John Roder. The labour union has contributed annually to Dr. Roder’s research since 1994, through funds raised at their hockey tournament. To date, the ATU’s contributions have totaled approximately $500,000 and this year’s donation is the highest ever.

 

“The Amalgamated Transit Union is proud to serve the same community as Mount Sinai Hospital, and we’re thrilled to help further the important research of Dr. Roder,” said Rocco Signorile, Secretary Treasurer of the ATU’s Canadian Council.

 

Dr. Roder, a neurobiologist and Professor in the Department of Molecular Genetics at the University of Toronto, holds a Canada Research Chair (Tier 1) in Learning and Memory.

 

His research focuses on the roles of molecules in the central nervous system and aims to determine targeted new drug therapies for neurological and psychiatric disease. He has generated sophisticated new rodent models of human psychiatric diseases. The Roder lab is also focused on identifying new genes, synapses and signaling pathways that contribute to learning and memory.

 

In a pivotal study in 2007, Dr. Roder demonstrated for the first time in mouse models that malfunction of the gene DISC 1, previously associated with schizophrenia and depression, causes symptoms of those disorders. Last summer, Dr. Roder and his team published a study offering new evidence that a faulty version of a gene known as Atp1a3 is linked to epileptic seizures in mice. And then in September 2009, he and other researchers discovered a molecular link between intelligence and curiosity, which may lead to the development of drugs to improve learning.  

 

Dr. Roder recognizes the invaluable support that the ATU has provided for his research. “It’s a wonderful relationship that we have with the Amalgamated Transit Union, and this ongoing support is critical to help further our work,” he said. The new funds will be used to continue his team’s research into mental illnesses including depression, anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder and schizophrenia.

 

A cheque for $51,000 will be presented to Dr. Roder at the ATU’s hockey tournament in Toronto on March 13, and all proceeds from the game (ATU staff versus NHL alumni) will be donated to his lab.

 

Founded in 1892, the Amalgamated Transit Union is the largest labour union representing transit workers in North America. Today the union has over 190,000 members in 264 local unions in 44 states and nine provinces. The ATU membership includes bus, subway, light rail, ferry operators, clerks, baggage handlers, mechanics and others in public transit, para-transit, inter-city and school bus industries.