Hello Reddit!!

We are a group of prion researchers working at the Centre for Prions & Protein Folding Diseases (CPPFD) located on the University of Alberta Campus, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

Prion diseases are a group of rare, neurodegerative diseases that are invariably fatal and for which we currently have no cure. Having come from the most recent international prion conference (Prion2019) and with prions being highlighted in the news (CWD – aka “Zombie Deer Disease”) we have decided to do an AMA to help clear some of the confusion/misinformation surrounding CWD, prions, and how they are transmitted.

With us today we have 5 of the professors/principle investigators (PI’s) here to answer questions. They are:

Dr. David Westaway (PhD) – Director of the CPPFD, Full Professor (Dept. Medicine – Div. Neurology), and Canadian Tier 1 Research Chair in Neurodegerative Diseases.

Dr. Judd Aiken (PhD) – Full Professor (Dept. Agriculture, Food and Nutritional Science), expert on CWD and environmental contamination of prions.

Dr. Debbie McKenzie (PhD) – Associate Professor (Dept. Biological Sciences), expert in CWD strains and spread.

Dr. Holger Wille (PhD) – Associate Professor (Dept. Biochemistry), expert in the study of the structure of native and misfolded prions.

Dr. Valerie Sim (MD) – Associate Professor (Dept. Medicine – Div. Neurology), Clinical Neurologist, and Medical Director of the Canadian CJD Association, expert on human prion disease.

/u/DNAhelicase is helping us arrange this AMA. He is the lab manager/senior research technician to Dr. Valerie Sim, and a long time Reddit user.

We will be here to answer questions at 1pm MST (3pm EST)

Proof: https://imgur.com/a/qPIES26 (left – Dr. McKenzie, right – Dr. Sim, middle – Dr. Westaway; not pictured – Dr’s. Aiken and Wille)

For more information about us and our research please visit our webpage: https://www.ualberta.ca/faculties/centresinstitutes/prion-centre