From fly modelsto human therapeutics.
Using Drosophila to uncover disease mechanisms and accelerate therapeutic innovation.
Core discovery program
Neuronal Resilience, Brain Aging and Neurodegeneration
RAN
Core discovery program
Motor Neuron Diseases
MNDs
Collaborative disease modeling platform
Rare Diseases and Functional Genomics
RareFG
Collaborative intervention testing and repurposing platform
NeuroTherapeutic Discovery
NThera
“Multi-channel confocal panel of the Drosophila central nervous system”
“Mushroom body neurons labelled with GFP — Drosophila brain”
“Whole-brain immunostaining (magenta) showing neuronal architecture”
“Optic lobe neurons highlighted in pink”
“Neuronal projections revealed by sparse labelling”
“Neuromuscular junction — boutons and axonal branching”
“NMJ landscape — synaptic terminals along the muscle”
“NMJ stained with pre- and post-synaptic markers”
About
What is NeuroFly2Cure
NeuroFly2Cure is a translational neuroscience program at the Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, established through a partnership between the Drosophila Center for Human Diseases and Drug Discovery (DHD) and the Functional Genomics Unit (FGU) at CMUTEAM. Founded by Luca Lo Piccolo and Salinee Jantrapirom, the program reflects a shared commitment to make Chiang Mai a place where strong basic science, disease modeling, and therapeutic discovery can be developed side by side for neurological disorders. Built on complementary strengths in Drosophila genetics, molecular and cellular neuroscience, functional genomics, and pharmacology, the program provides a shared framework for neurological disease research.
By integrating advanced fly models with disease-relevant neuronal and iPSC-based systems, NeuroFly2Cure investigates disease mechanisms, validates genetic variants, and supports therapeutic discovery across neurodegeneration, motor neuron disease, rare neurological disorders, and neurotoxic stress. This partnership creates a translational workflow in which mechanistic discovery, in vivo modeling, human-cell validation, and preclinical testing can be linked within a coordinated research pipeline.
As a collaborative, project-based hub, NeuroFly2Cure connects clinicians, geneticists, pharmacologists, academic collaborators, and private-sector stakeholders to accelerate research on currently incurable neurological disorders. It also provides a platform for national, international, and extramural research opportunities by aligning shared facilities, complementary expertise, and cross-sector partnerships within the Faculty of Medicine.
Mission
Our mission
Our mission is to build an integrated translational neuroscience program in Chiang Mai that connects rigorous disease mechanisms with realistic routes to therapy for neurological disorders, while expanding the depth and visibility of neuroscience research in Thailand. We aim to combine Drosophila genetics, human neuronal and iPSC-based systems, and functional genomics to understand why specific neurons fail, how vulnerability can be modified, and which pathways offer genuine therapeutic leverage.
A core part of this mission is to provide students and early-career researchers with access to advanced DNA technologies, molecular genetics tools, and cross-model disease platforms, so they can engage with neurobiology at its mechanistic foundations rather than only at the clinical level. By serving as a local reference point for modern experimental neurobiology, we hope to broaden scientific perspectives, inspire new careers in neuroscience, and root future clinicians and scientists more deeply in fundamental principles of brain biology.
Through collaborative, project-driven work with clinical, academic, and industry partners, we seek to establish a sustainable platform that advances rare and common neurological disease research, supports variant interpretation and target validation, and accelerates the discovery of compounds and strategies that can be credibly developed into neurotherapeutics.
Approach
How we work
We design NeuroFly2Cure as a cross-model, project-based pipeline that moves in a coordinated way from mechanism to therapeutic testing. At the core of this approach is the systematic integration of Drosophila genetics, human neuronal models, and patient-derived iPSCs, so that hypotheses can be generated, challenged, and refined across complementary systems rather than in isolation.
We start by using advanced Drosophila models to rapidly test disease genes, pathways, and environmental factors, taking advantage of in vivo readouts of neuronal resilience, proteostasis, and lifespan or behavior. These fly data guide which variants, pathways, or compounds move forward into human neuronal and iPSC-based systems, where we can probe cell-type specificity, subcellular mechanisms, and pharmacology in a human context.
Throughout this workflow, we embed functional genomics, neurochemistry, and pharmacology — using genome engineering, transcriptomic and proteomic profiling, and targeted small molecules — to connect pathway-level insight with modifiable intervention points. By structuring our work as collaborative, hypothesis-driven projects that span fly and human models, we aim to shorten the distance between basic mechanistic discovery, variant interpretation, and the identification of realistic therapeutic strategies for neurological disease.
Funders
We are grateful to our funders who make our research possible:
