We are delighted that Dr. Avik Roy is now part of the Milwaukee Institute for Drug Discovery. He received his PhD in Neuroscience from Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. His primary research interest is identifying molecular targets and designing small molecular drugs against neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease. Since 2021, he has been serving as chief scientific officer at Simmaron Research INC, where he is continuing his scientific journey to decode the molecular mechanism of chronic neuroinflammatory diseases.

In 2022, Simmaron relocated their research operation to the University of Wisconsin renting research space in the UWM Chemistry Building. Dr. Roy is working together with the MIDD specifically with Director Dr. Arnold to develop an animal model of myalgic encephalomyelitis or chronic fatigue syndrome. The chronic multisystem disease is characterized by intense muscle fatigue, muscle pain, and neurocognitive impairment. Until now, the molecular mechanism of this disease is not properly understood primarily due to the lack of an animal model. Just recently, Dr. Roy was awarded a competitive R21 grant from the National Institutes of Health to study ATG13: A new player in ME/CFS. This grant will fund his ground-breaking work in autophagy in ME/CFS. Dr. Roy is an Adjunct Professor of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.