Rate My Professor Eric Norstrom

Eric Norstrom serves as Associate Professor of Neuroscience in the College of Science and Health at DePaul University, contributing to the Department of Biological Sciences and Neuroscience Program. He earned his PhD and completed postdoctoral research at the University of Chicago, where his work centered on Alzheimer’s disease and prion diseases involving protein misfolding and aggregation. Joining DePaul thereafter, Norstrom balances rigorous research with teaching, offering courses such as Cellular Neurobiology (BIO339/439), General Biology for Majors (BIO191), Human Anatomy (BIO201), Topics in Neurobiology (BIO331/431), Brain and Behavior (BIO126), and Introduction to Neuroscience (NEU201). His laboratory addresses fundamental questions about the cellular mechanisms of brain disease states, focusing on the cellular neurobiology of neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s disease and prion diseases. By investigating the molecular function and processing of implicated proteins, including the amyloid precursor protein (APP) and its interactions leading to beta-amyloid peptide formation, Norstrom seeks insights into disease progression and therapeutic strategies. Employing molecular genetics, protein biochemistry, proteomics, fluorescence microscopy, cell culture techniques, and animal models, his research elucidates protein and cellular dysfunction in neurodegeneration. Norstrom collaborates with Alzheimer’s researchers at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science via the Alliance for Health Sciences, supported by a collaborative grant that leverages complementary expertise in protein analysis and animal models.

Norstrom’s scholarly output includes impactful publications such as Chang et al., 'Targeting Amyloid-β Precursor Protein, APP, Splicing with Antisense Oligonucleotides Reduces Toxic Amyloid-β Production,' Molecular Therapy (2018); Cali et al., 'Impaired transmissibility of atypical prions from genetic CJD(G114V),' Neurology Genetics (2018); Norstrom, 'Metabolic processing of the amyloid precursor protein – new pieces of the Alzheimer’s puzzle,' Discovery Medicine (2017); Philibert et al., 'Identification and characterization of Aβ peptide interactors in Alzheimer’s disease by structural approaches,' Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience (2014); and Norstrom et al., 'Identification of NEEP21 as an APP-interacting protein in vivo that modulates amyloidogenic processing in vitro,' Journal of Neuroscience (2010). He maintains memberships in the Society for Neuroscience, American Association for the Advancement of Science, and American Society for Cell Biology, fostering connections within the scientific community. Through his contributions, Norstrom advances knowledge of protein-related pathologies in neurodegenerative disorders.