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.