We maintain and develop Drosophila melanogaster models as a central in vivo resource for studying human neurological disease. We routinely use fly stocks from major public repositories — including the Bloomington, Vienna (VDRC), and Kyoto stock centers — and integrate them into our disease-focused workflows.

The Drosophila Center for Human Diseases and Drug Discovery (DHD) currently hosts more than 500 distinct fly stocks and is the largest academic Drosophila stock collection in Thailand. In addition, we have generated over 40 unique transgenic lines in-house, including models for repeat expansion disorders and tools to modulate epigenetic factors in neurons.

We operate a microinjection pipeline for site-specific genomic integration in Drosophila embryos and use the UAS/GAL4 binary system to establish new lines when public resources are not yet available. Alongside classic UAS/GAL4 approaches, we deploy sgRNA/Cas9 for targeted gene knockout and dCas9-VPR-based CRISPR activation for controlled overexpression. Ongoing projects include the generation of Drosophila NALCN wild-type and mutant lines, as well as transgenic flies expressing human POMT1 wild-type and mutant alleles.

NeuroFly2Cure provides access to shared instrumentation that supports genetics, imaging, and in vivo phenotyping. Current core facilities include:

• Microinjection system (Eppendorf FemtoJet 4i) with Olympus CKX53 for Drosophila embryo injections
• Olympus MVX10 fluorescent stereomicroscope for whole-animal imaging
• Olympus FluoView FV3000 confocal microscope for high-resolution cellular and subcellular imaging
• Hitachi TM4000 Plus scanning electron microscope (SEM) for structural and surface analysis
• PHCbi Drosophila incubators for controlled-temperature fly husbandry
• Olympus SZ61 stereomicroscopes for routine stock maintenance and phenotypic screening

These facilities support both internal projects and collaborative work, from initial model generation through to detailed structural and functional analysis.

NeuroFly2Cure is open to collaboration with academic groups, clinical partners, public institutions, and private-sector stakeholders who require in vivo or in vitro models of human neurological disease. We support the design and generation of Drosophila and human cell-based models to accelerate drug discovery, target validation, and mechanistic studies.

The program can participate as a methodological and experimental partner in national and international grant applications, particularly in projects that benefit from integrated fly-human model pipelines. We also provide scientific consulting in neurobiology and in the design of experimental solutions for biomedical research questions that intersect with neuroscience, neurodegeneration, or neuronal resilience.

NeuroFly2Cure is structured as a collaborative, project-based hub. We work with clinicians, human geneticists, pharmacologists, and basic scientists to translate patient- and variant-based questions into experimentally tractable fly and human neuronal models. Collaborations can span the full workflow, from model design and in vivo or in vitro phenotyping to mechanistic dissection and early-stage therapeutic testing.

We welcome inquiries from Thai and international partners who are interested in:

• Modeling rare or common neurological disorders in Drosophila or human neuronal/iPSC systems
• Functionally testing disease variants identified through clinical or genomic studies
• Implementing fly-to-human pipelines for drug repurposing, natural products, or small-molecule screening

This collaborative framework is intended to make advanced neurobiology and genetics platforms accessible, and to position Chiang Mai as a reference site for modern experimental neuroscience in the region.