Grant to UM Researchers Could Help Save Lives in a Chemical Weapons Attack

Over the next five years, researchers at the University of Montana will be receiving $3.8 million in grant money from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke to study a group of chemicals called organophosphates.

"Many people recognize organophosphates as a group of chemicals used in insecticides, but they are also used as chemical warfare agents, as nerve agents" said UM Biomedical & Pharmaceutical Sciences Professor Chuck Thompson. "What we are trying to do spin that story a little, and instead of using these molecules for evil, we are hoping to use them to probe the functions of the brain."

Some of the most disturbing uses of organophosphates are in chemical weapons, such as Sarin gas.

"We are using agents that are kind of known to be toxic, but at such low levels they are really just there to help us visualize and quantitate what's going on in the brain. We are still very worried about rogue nations for example using organophosphates to harm civilians and our study also looks into how antidotes and curative agents might protect the brain."

The State of Montana doesn’t have a cyclotron, which is needed to produce some of the isotopes for the study. To get the materials they need, Thompson and his team will be working in coordination with other research endeavors by universities in Alabama and California.