Rita Cowell, Ph.D.

Fellow Drug Discovery

Cowell maintains an independently-funded research program and oversees the Neuroscience Department, with the mission of discovering new treatments for people with neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s disease, Huntington disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and Alzheimer’s disease. She has more than 20 years of experience and expertise in this area, has more than 30 publications in journals, has authored four book chapters and published almost 50 abstracts. The Cowell Lab is currently supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health and the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research. Cowell received her bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and her doctorate in neuroscience from the University of Michigan, where she also completed her postdoctoral work. Before joining Southern Research in 2017, she began her independent research laboratory at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where she also served as co-director of the Neuroscience Graduate Theme for the UAB’s biomedical sciences program and associate director for communications and outreach for the Civitan International Research Center.

Related Articles

Southern Research neuroscience lab wins grant for Parkinson’s, ALS research

Southern Research neuroscience lab wins grant for Parkinson’s, ALS research

July 14, 2021

Rita Cowell is chair of Southern Research’s Neuroscience Department. A Southern Research neuroscience lab has received new federal grants totaling almost $3.9 million to advance its study of Parkinson’s Disease and other neurological diseases. The grants from the National Instit...
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Project funded by The Michael J. Fox Foundation targets deeper understanding of neuronal death in Parkinson’s

Project funded by The Michael J. Fox Foundation targets deeper understanding of neuronal death in Parkinson’s

August 23, 2019

The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (MJFF) has awarded Southern Research scientist Rita Cowell, Ph.D., a $150,000 grant to study how certain brain cells die in Parkinson’...
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Alabama Power Foundation grant accelerates research on potential ALS drugs

Alabama Power Foundation grant accelerates research on potential ALS drugs

May 30, 2019

A Southern Research scientist’s early-stage work on potential new therapies for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, is getting a push thanks to a grant that will speed the project. Rita Cowell, Ph.D., Fellow and Chair of the Neu...
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