Dr. James Vranish

• B.S. in Biochemistry at the University of Notre Dame
• PhD in Biochemistry and Biophysics at Texas A&M University

Assistant professor of chemistry at Ave Maria University from 2017-2020

• Received a National Research Council Research Associateship Program Postdoctoral Fellowship to do research at the US Naval Research Laboratory
• Co-PI on Co-PI on a $100,000 grant from the Florida Department of Health’s Ed and Ethel Moore Alzheimer’s Disease Research Program in 2018
• Member of the Society of Catholic Scientists

Dr. Vranish is interested in the study of proteins and enzymes. In recent years, his focus has been on proteins involved in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and chronic traumatic encepholopathy. A common feature in both of these diseases is activation of a protease known as asparaginyl endopeptidase (AEP). This protein cleaves a number of other proteins in the cell, and results in conditions that can lead to neuronal cell death. His group works to understand how AEP functions and to develop tools to screen for potential therapeutics to target its function in patients.