Miguel Sena-Esteves, PhD, associate professor of neurology, was presented with the annual “See the Light” award from the Mathew Forbes Romer Foundation (MFRF) in recognition of his leadership in the fight against children’s genetic diseases of the brain. A member of the UMass Chan Medical School Gene Therapy Center, Dr. Sena-Esteves is investigating the potential of using gene therapy techniques to replace the faulty gene that causes Tay-Sachs disease, a devastating neurological disorder that causes deterioration of mental and physical abilities in children starting at six months old, usually resulting in death by the age of 5.
