Nancy Bonini

{{short description|American neuroscientist and geneticist}} {{Infobox scientist | name = Nancy Bonini | image = Nancy Bonini 2012.jpg | alt = | caption = | birth_name = Nancy M. Bonini | birth_date = {{birth year and age|1959}}<ref name="birthyear"/> | birth_place = | death_date =  | death_place = | fields = {{Plainlist| *Neuroscience *Genetics }} | workplaces = California Institute of Technology<br>University of Pennsylvania | patrons = | education = Princeton University {{small|(AB)}}<br>University of Wisconsin-Madison {{small|(PhD)}} | thesis_title = | thesis_url =  | thesis_year = | doctoral_advisor = David L. Nelson | academic_advisors = | doctoral_students = | notable_students = | known_for = Developed the first ''''Drosophila'''' model of human neurodenerative disease | awards = {{Plainlist| * Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator (2000–2013)<ref name="zz2"/> * Elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science * Elected Member of the National Academy of Sciences * Elected Member of the National Academy of Medicine<ref name="zz1"/> * Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences<ref name="zz3"/> }} | spouse = Anthony Cashmore }}

'''Nancy M. Bonini''' (born 1959) is an American neuroscientist and geneticist, best known for pioneering the use of ''Drosophila'' as a model organism to study neurodegeneration of the human brain. Using the ''Drosophila'' model approach, Bonini's laboratory has identified genes and pathways that are important in the development and progression of neurodegenerative diseases such as Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, also called Lou Gehrig's Disease),<ref name="zz39">{{cite web |url= https://www.alzforum.org/news/conference-coverage/dc-new-als-genetics-hog-limelight-satellite-conference|title=DC: New ALS Genetics Hog the Limelight at Satellite Conference |author= |date= 2011|website=www.alzforum.org |publisher=FBRI LLC |access-date=21 Jul 2019 }}</ref> Alzheimer's disease,<ref name="zz37">{{cite news |author= |title=Penn Study Shows that the "Epigenetic Landscape" is Protective in Normal Aging, Impaired in Alzheimer's Disease |url=https://www.pennmedicine.org/news/news-releases/2018/march/epigenetic-landscape-is-protective-in-normal-aging |work=Penn Medicine News |location=USA |date=5 Mar 2018 |access-date=19 Jul 2019 }}</ref> and Parkinson's disease,<ref name="zz18">{{cite journal |last1=Whitworth |first1=Alexander |last2=Wes |first2=Paul D. |last3=Pallanck|first3=Leo J.|date= 2006|title=''Drosophila'' models pioneer a new approach to drug discovery for Parkinson's disease |url=https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/polopoly_fs/1.33753!/file/whitworth_ddt_feb06.pdf |journal=Drug Discovery Today |volume=11 |issue=3/4 |pages=119– |doi= 10.1016/S1359-6446(05)03693-7|pmid=16533709 |access-date=20 Jul 2019 }}</ref><ref name="zz40">{{cite web |url= https://www.alzforum.org/news/research-news/drosophila-define-dj-1s-defensive-role|title=''Drosophila'' Define DJ-1's Defensive Role |author= |date=16 Dec 2005 |website=www.alzforum.org |publisher=FBRI LLC |access-date=21 Jul 2019 }}</ref> as well as aging, neural injury and regeneration,<ref name="zz41">{{cite journal |journal=Disease Models and Mechanisms|first1=Berrack|last1=Ugur|first2=Kuchuan|last2=Chen|first3=Hugo J.|last3=Bellen|authorlink3= Hugo J. Bellen|url=https://dmm.biologists.org/content/9/3/235 |title=''Drosophila'' tools and assays for the study of human diseases |date=2016|volume=9|issue=3|pages=235–244 |doi=10.1242/dmm.023762|pmid=26935102|pmc=4833332|access-date= 21 Jul 2019|quote=The recently developed ''Drosophila'' wing injury assay is an elegant approach to study axonal degeneration and regeneration in vivo (Fang et al., 2012). The goal of these studies is to identify genes that are required for axonal degeneration and regeneration, and to identify the regulatory processes that are involved in spinal cord and nerve injuries. }}</ref> and response to environmental toxins.<ref name="zz40"/>

A professor of biology at the University of Pennsylvania since 1994, Bonini has held appointments as the inaugural Lucille B. Williams Term Professor of Biology (2006–2012),<ref name="zz15">{{cite web | url= https://almanac.upenn.edu/archive/volumes/v53/n32/pdf_n32/050107.pdf | title= Science Professors to Four Chairs |author= |date=1 May 2007 |website=www.almanac.upenn.edu |publisher= University of Pennsylvania|access-date=20 Jul 2019 }}</ref> an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (2000–2013),<ref name="zz2">{{cite web |url=https://www.hhmi.org/scientists/nancy-m-bonini |title=Our Investigators: Nancy M. Bonini, PhD |author= |date=2019 |website=hhmi.org |publisher=Howard Hughes Medical Institute |access-date=15 Jul 2019 }}</ref><ref name="zz20">{{cite web |url=https://www.hhmi.org/news/hhmi-scientists-elected-national-academy-sciences-2012 |title=HHMI Scientists Elected to National Academy of Sciences in 2012|author= |date=1 May 2012 |website= www.hhmi.org |publisher=Howard Hughes Medical Institute }}</ref> and the Florence RC Murray Professor of Biology (since 2012).<ref name="zz14">{{cite web |url=https://www.bio.upenn.edu/news/dr-nancy-bonini-appointed-florence-rc-murray-professor-biology |title=Dr. Nancy Bonini appointed as the Florence R.C. Murray Professor of Biology |author= |date=8 Aug 2012 |website=www.bio.upenn.edu |publisher=University of Pennsylvania |access-date=20 Jul 2019 }}</ref> She was editor of the ''Annual Review of Genetics'' from 2018-2021.<ref>{{cite web |title=Editor Of The Annual Review Of Genetics - Volume 52, 2018 |url=https://www.annualreviews.org/db/directory?2018,genet |website=Annual Reviews |access-date=29 July 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.annualreviews.org/db/directory?2021,genet |title=Editor Of The Annual Review Of Genetics - Volume 55, 2021 | access-date=9 February 2022| website=Annual Reviews}}</ref>

==Early life and education== Bonini was born in 1959 to parents Rose and William E. Bonini.<ref name="birthyear">{{cite web |url=https://www.amacad.org/sites/default/files/media/document/2019-06/electionIndex2000-2018.pdf |title=Members of the American Academy Listed by election year, 2000–2018 |author= |date=2019 |website=amacad.org |publisher=American Academy of Arts and Sciences |access-date=1 Aug 2019 }}</ref> Her father was a Professor of GeoScience and Civil Engineering at Princeton University from 1952 to 1996.<ref name="zz9">{{cite news |last=Kelly|first=Morgan|title=Geoscientist William Bonini, dedicated teacher and genial colleague, dies at 90 |url=https://www.princeton.edu/news/2017/01/03/geoscientist-william-bonini-dedicated-teacher-and-genial-colleague-dies-90 |work= Princeton University News|location=Princeton, NJ, USA |date=3 Jan 2017 |access-date= 12 Jul 2019}}</ref> Raised in Princeton, New Jersey, she graduated from Princeton Day School in 1977.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-times-graduates-of-princeton-day-sch/177717225/ "78 receive degrees from Princeton Day"], ''The Times'', June 16, 1977. Accessed July 29, 2025, via Newspapers.com. "Members of the twelfth graduating class of the Princeton Day School received their diplomas Monday evening."</ref> Nancy, her sister (Jennifer), brothers (Jack and Jamie), and father all attended Princeton University.<ref name="zz10">{{cite web |url=http://www.centraljersey.com/obituaries/william-e-bill-bonini/article_ba240da6-ce02-11e6-96ee-0f19b2830b1d.html |title=William E. "Bill" Bonini, 90 |author= |date=29 Dec 2016 |website=www.centraljersey.com |publisher=Packet Media, LLC |access-date= 12 Jul 2019}}</ref>

Bonini earned an AB degree from Princeton University in 1981, studying biology.<ref name="zz5">{{cite web |url=https://www.princeton.edu/paw/archive_old/PAW98-99/16-0609/0609cns.html |title=A fly like thee. Studying the fruit fly, Nancy Bonini '81 unravels causes of neurodegenerative diseases |last=Nichols|first=Peter|date=1999 |website=www.princeton.edu |publisher=Princeton University |access-date=18 Jul 2019 }}</ref> Her undergraduate thesis research, performed under the direction of William (Chip) Quinn, formed the basis for her first publication, "Reward Learning in Normal and Mutant ''Drosophila''".<ref name="zz0">{{cite journal |last1=Tempel |first1=Bruce L. |last2=Bonini |first2=Nancy|last3=Dawson |first3=Douglas R.|last4=Quinn |first4=William G. |date=1983 |title=Reward learning in normal and mutant ''Drosophila'' |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |volume=80 |issue=5 |pages=1482–1486 |doi= 10.1073/pnas.80.5.1482|pmid=6572401 |pmc=393622 |bibcode=1983PNAS...80.1482T |doi-access=free }}</ref> After graduation, Bonini entered the Neurosciences Training Program at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. There, she completed doctoral research in the laboratory of David L. Nelson,<ref name ="Nelson">{{cite magazine |author= |title= From the Labs: Dave Nelson Lab|url=https://biochem.wisc.edu/sites/default/files/About_Us/newsletters/2010BiochemNewsletter.pdf |magazine=University of Wisconsin-Madison Biochemistry Newsletter |location=Wisconsin, USA |date= 2010|access-date=11 Aug 2019 }}</ref> graduating with a Doctorate (Ph.D.) in Neuroscience in 1987.<ref name="zz4">{{cite web |url=https://ntp.neuroscience.wisc.edu/alumni/ |title= Neuroscience Training Program – Alumni|author= |date= 2019|website=www.ntp.neuroscience.wisc.edu |publisher=University of Wisconsin – Madison |access-date=18 Jul 2019 }}</ref> Bonini's postdoctoral research was performed in the laboratory of Seymour Benzer (behavioral geneticist) at the California Institute of Technology.<ref name="zz5"/> Focusing on using the fruit fly as a tool for understanding the genetic basis of the brain and behavior, Bonini was the first to demonstrate that ''Drosophila'' can be used as a model of human neurodegenerative disease.<ref name="zz27">{{cite journal |last1=Warrick |first1= John M|last2=Paulson |first2=Henry L|authorlink2= Henry L. Paulson|last3=Gray-Board|first3=Gladys|last4=Fischbeck|first4=Kenneth H|last5=Pittman|first5=Randall N|last6=Bonini |first6=Nancy M. |date=12 Jun 1998 |title=Expanded Polyglutamine Protein Forms Nuclear Inclusions and Causes Neural Degeneration in ''Drosophila'' |journal= Cell|volume=93 |issue=6 |pages= 939–949|doi= 10.1016/S0092-8674(00)81200-3|pmid= 9635424|s2cid= 17720790|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name="zz28">{{cite journal |author=Max Perutz |date= 1 Feb 1999|title= Glutamine repeats and neurodegenerative diseases: molecular aspects. |journal=Trends in Biochemical Sciences |volume= 24|issue= 2|pages=58–63 |doi= 10.1016/S0968-0004(98)01350-4|pmid= 10098399|author-link= Max Perutz}}</ref>

==Research== ===The fruit fly as a model for human neurodegenerative disease=== In 1998, Bonini's research conclusively demonstrated that ''Drosophila'' could be used as an ''in vivo'' model for human neurodegenerative disease.<ref name="zz27"/><ref name="zz28"/> Using this model, Bonini's research group subsequently discovered unexpected and novel pathways that play a role in normal biology, injury, and disease.<ref name="zz5"/> In the pioneering study that showed that the fruit fly can be used as a model of disease, Bonini's laboratory collaborated with human geneticists to examine the effects of expressing normal and mutant forms of a human neurodegenerative polyQ disease protein. Flies that expressed the mutant form of the protein showed symptoms and characteristics similar to those seen in human polyQ disease patients; flies that expressed the normal protein did not.<ref name="HorowskiMizuno2003">{{cite book|author1=R. Horowski|author2=Y. Mizuno|author3=C.W. Olanow|author4=W. Poewe|author5=P. Riederer|authorlink5=Peter Riederer|author6=J.A. Stoessel|author7=M.B.H. Youdim| authorlink7= Moussa B. H. Youdim|title=Advances in Research on Neurodegeneration |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m2xu68gysMkC&pg=PA62|access-date=20 July 2019|date=24 July 2003|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=978-3-211-83907-2|pages=52–}}</ref><ref name="zz80">{{cite journal |last1=Warrick |first1= JM|last2= Chan|first2=HY|last3=Gray-Board|first3=GL|last4=Paulson|first4=H|last5=Bonini|first5=NM |date=1999 |title=Suppression of polyglutamine disease in ''Drosophila'' by the molecular chaperone hsp70 |journal=Nature Genetics |volume=23 |issue= 4|pages=425–428 |doi= 10.1038/70532|pmid= 10581028|s2cid= 24632055}}</ref>

===Chaperones and Polyglutamine Repeat Diseases=== Studying Polyglutamine repeat diseases (polyQ diseases) in ''Drosophila'' neurodegeneration models, Bonini's research group elucidated an important role for molecular chaperones in polyQ diseases,<ref name="zz71">{{cite journal |last1=Chai |first1=Y |last2=Koppenhafer |first2=SL|last3=Bonini| first3=NM|last4=Paulson |first4=HL |date=1 Dec 1999 |title= Analysis of the role of heat shock protein (Hsp) molecular chaperones in polyglutamine disease|journal=The Journal of Neuroscience |volume=19 |issue= 23|pages= 10338–47|doi= 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.19-23-10338.1999|pmid=10575031 |pmc=6782415 }}</ref> and subsequently Parkinson's disease.<ref name="zz18"/><ref name="HorowskiMizuno2003"/><ref name="zz72">{{cite journal |last1=Helfand |first1=Stephen L. |date=1 Feb 2002 |title= Chaperones Take Flight|journal=Science |volume=295 |issue=5556 |pages=809–810 |doi= 10.1126/science.1069544|pmid=11823628 |s2cid=84002211 }}</ref> In those studies, upregulation of the chaperone Hsp70 suppressed neurodegeneration, and this finding established chaperones as a new therapeutic target for Parkinson's disease and other neurodegenerative disorders.<ref name="zz18"/><ref name="zz72"/><ref name="zz8">{{cite book|author1=R. Horowski|author2=Y. Mizuno|author3=C.W. Olanow|author4=W. Poewe|author5= P. Riederer|author6=J.A. Stoessel|author7=M.B.H. Youdim|title=Advances in Research on Neurodegeneration |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m2xu68gysMkC&pg=PA62|access-date=20 July 2019|date=24 July 2003|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=978-3-211-83907-2|page=117|chapter=General Aspects of Neurodegeration}}</ref> Bonini's research team demonstrated the pharmacologic potential of chaperones in further ''Drosophila'' studies; administering geldanamycin (an antitumor antibiotic that acts on Hsp90) to mutant flies before symptoms of neural decline were visible averted the onset of neurodegeneration in the mutant flies, suggesting a new approach for people susceptible to Parkinson's disease and other neurodegenerative conditions.<ref name="zz50">{{cite web |url= https://penntoday.upenn.edu/news/drug-averts-parkinsons-disease-fruit-flies-suggesting-new-approaches-human-neurodegenerative-di|title=Drug Averts Parkinson's Disease in Fruit Flies, Suggesting New Approaches to Human Neurodegenerative Diseases |author= |date=11 Nov 2002 |website=www.penntoday.upenn.edu |publisher=University of Pennsylvania |access-date=22 Jul 2019 }}</ref>

===Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS/Lou Gehrig's Disease)=== Bonini's research laboratory developed and validated a ''Drosophila'' model for familial ALS,<ref name="zz41"/><ref name="zz29">{{cite journal |date=5 Sep 2008 |title= A Fly Model for ALS|journal= Journal of Biological Chemistry|volume= 283|pages=e99948 |doi= 10.1016/S0021-9258(19)49256-9|doi-access= free |issue= 36}}</ref><ref name="zz34">{{cite web |url=https://www.hhmi.org/bulletin/february-2011/hope-floats |title=Hope Floats: With a new arsenal of robust models of ALS, drug development may move to the fast track. |first=Brian|last=Varslag|date= Feb 2011|website= www.hhmi.org|publisher=Howard Hughes Medical Institute |access-date=21 Jul 2019 |quote=In 1998, however, Bonini authored an idea that radically extended the scientific reach of the humble insect. She mused that inserting genes related to human brain diseases might yield critical insights into poorly understood neurodegenerative conditions, including Huntington's disease, Parkinson's disease, and ALS. "I saw it as, 'there are all these terrible diseases and nobody is really studying them in model organisms,'" Bonini says. "I knew it was a high-risk thing."}}</ref> then used an ALS model to evaluate genes and pathways important for ALS onset, progression, and possible treatment.<ref name="zz11"/><ref name="zz12"/> Through these studies, Bonini's team, in collaboration with Aaron Gitler, discovered that ATXN2 (the gene that encodes the protein Ataxin-2) was a disease susceptibility gene for ALS, and that interrupting the interaction between TDP-43 and Ataxin-2 was a promising target for treating ALS and other diseases.<ref name="zz34"/><ref name="zz11">{{cite news |first=Faye|last=Flam |authorlink= Faye Flam|title= Researchers at University of Pennsylvania find possible genetic link to Lou Gehrig's disease|url=https://www.inquirer.com/philly/health/20100826_Researchers_at_University_of_Pennsylvania_find_possible_genetic_link_to_Lou_Gehrig_s_disease.html |work=The Philadelphia Inquirer |date=26 Aug 2010 |access-date=16 Jul 2019 }}</ref><ref name="zz12">{{cite journal |last1= Elden|first1= Andrew C.|last2= Kim|first2= Hyung-Jun|last3= Hart|first3= Michael P.|last4= Chen-Plotkin|first4= Alice S.|last5= Johnson|first5= Brian S.|last6= Fang|first6= Xiaodong|last7= Armakola|first7= Maria|last8= Geser|first8= Felix|last9= Greene|first9= Robert|last10= Lu|first10= Min Min|last11= Padmanabhan|first11= Arun|last12= Clay-Falcone|first12= Dana|last13= McCluskey|first13= Leo|last14= Elman|first14= Lauren|last15= Juhr|first15= Denise|last16= Gruber|first16= Peter J.|last17= Rüb|first17= Udo|last18= Auburger|first18= Georg|last19= Trojanowski|first19= John Q.|last20= Lee|first20= Virginia M.-Y.|last21= Van Deerlin|first21= Vivianna M.|last22= Bonini|first22= Nancy M.|last23= Gitler|first23= Aaron D.|title= Ataxin-2 intermediate-length polyglutamine expansions are associated with increased risk for ALS|journal=Nature |volume=466 |issue= 7310|pages=1069–1078 |doi=10.1038/nature09320 |pmid= 20740007|pmc= 2965417|year= 2010|bibcode= 2010Natur.466.1069E}}</ref><ref name="zz30">{{cite patent |country= USA|number= US20110142789A1 |status= |title= Compositions and Methods for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis |pubdate= |gdate= |fdate= |pridate= |inventor= |invent1=Aaron D. Gitler |invent2=Nancy M. Bonini |assign1=University of Pennsylvania |url= https://patents.google.com/patent/US20110142789A1/en?oq=12%2f965%2c618 }}</ref><ref name="zz13">{{cite journal |author2=Don W. Cleveland |author1=Clotilde Lagier-Tourenne|author2-link=Don W. Cleveland|date=25 Aug 2010 |title= An expansion in ALS genetics|journal=Nature |volume=466 |issue= 7310|pages=1052–1053 |doi= 10.1038/4661052a|pmid=20740002|s2cid=205056924|quote=”… present evidence on page 1069 of this issue that short expansions of glutamine (Q) amino-acid residues — a polyglutamine, or polyQ tract — in the ataxin-2 protein are associated with increased risk of ALS. This unexpected finding comes 15 years after the discovery that long polyQ expansions in ataxin-2 cause spinocerebellar ataxia type 2, a neurodegenerative disorder involving abnormalities of gait.|doi-access=free}}</ref>

===A role for brain microRNAs in aging and disease=== The Bonini lab discovered that a conserved microRNA, miR-34, plays a neuroprotective role in the brains of aging ''Drosophila''.<ref name="zz42">{{cite journal |last1=Aw |first1=Sherry |last2=Cohen |first2=Stephen M. |date=Aug 2012 |title= Time is of the essence: microRNAs and age-associated neurodegeneration |url= |journal=Nature |volume= 22|issue= 8|pages=1218–1220 |doi=10.1038/cr.2012.59 |pmid=22491478 |pmc=3411169 }}</ref> The loss of miR-34 resulted in a profile consistent with accelerated aging, late-onset brain neurodegeneration, and reduced survival, whereas upregulation of miR-34 enhanced survival and mitigated neurodegeneration.<ref name="zz42"/><ref name="zz32">{{cite web |url=https://www.alzforum.org/news/research-news/neurodegeneration-and-aging-could-microrna-be-link |title=Neurodegeneration and Aging: Could MicroRNA Be the Link? |author=Gwyneth Dickey Zakaib |date=17 Feb 2012 |website=www.alzforum.org |access-date=21 Feb 2019 }}</ref>

===An epigenetic basis for Alzheimer's disease=== In 2018, Bonini, with collaborators Shelley Berger, Brad Johnson, and others, completed a study investigating the epigenetic landscape of tissue samples donated by individuals who did and did not have Alzheimer's disease. The findings established the basis for an epigenetic link between aging and Alzheimer's disease, suggesting a new model for the disease and a paradigm shift from the previously established view of Alzheimer's disease as an 'advanced state of normal aging'. Based on the study findings, Bonini and collaborators established that a set of normal aging changes that occur in the epigenome protect against Alzheimer's disease, and that disrupting those normal protective changes may be a trigger that predisposes people to the disease.<ref name="zz37"/><ref name="zz38">{{cite journal |last1=Nativio |first1= Raffaella|last2=Donahue |first2=Greg|last3=Berson| first3=Amit|last4=Lan|first4=Yemin|last5=Amlie-Wolf|first5=Alexandre|last6=Tuzer |first6=Ferit|last7=Toledo|first7 =Jon B.|last8=Gosai|first8=Sager J.|last9=Gregory|first9=Brian D.|last10=Torres|first10=Claudio|last11=Trojanowski|first11=John Q.|last12=Wang|first12=Li-San|last13=Johnson|first13=F.Brad|last14=Bonini|first14=nancy M.|last15=Berger|first15=Shelley L. |authorlink15= Shelley Berger|date= 2018|title=Dysregulation of the epigenetic landscape of normal aging in Alzheimer's disease |journal=Nature Neuroscience |volume=21 |issue= 4|pages=497–505 |doi= 10.1038/s41593-018-0101-9|pmid= 29507413|pmc= 6124498|doi-access=free}}</ref>

==Honors and awards== A professor of biology at the University of Pennsylvania since 1994, Bonini has held appointments as the inaugural Lucille B. Williams Term Professor of Biology (2006–2012),<ref name="zz15"/> an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (2000–2013),<ref name="zz2"/><ref name="zz20"/> and the Florence RC Murray Professor of Biology (2012-).<ref name="zz14"/> In 2012, she was elected to the National Academy of Sciences,<ref name="zz20"/><ref name="zz21">{{cite web |url=http://www.nasonline.org/news-and-multimedia/news/2012_05_01_NAS_Election.html |title=National Academy of Sciences Members and Foreign Associates Elected|author= |date=1 May 2012 |website=www.nasonline.org |publisher= National Academy of Sciences|access-date= 20 Jul 2019}}</ref> and the National Academy of Medicine.<ref name="zz1">{{cite news |url=https://www.asbmb.org/uploadedFiles/ASBMBToday/Content/Archive/ASBMBToday-2012-12.pdf |title= ASBMB Today|author= |date=1 Dec 2012 |publisher=American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology |access-date=15 Jul 2019 |location= USA}}</ref> Also in 2012, Bonini became an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.<ref name="zz22">{{cite web |url=https://www.aaas.org/news/aaas-members-elected-fellows-2 |title= AAAS Members Elected as Fellows|author= |date=Dec 2011 |website=aaas.org |publisher=American Association for the Advancement of Science |access-date=20 Jul 2019 }}</ref> In 2014, Bonini was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.<ref name="zz3">{{cite web |author= |title= Ellison Medical Foundation Senior Scholar Nancy Bonini elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences |url= https://www.ellisonfoundation.org/node/4919 |website= ellisonfoundation.org |date= 2014|access-date=15 Jul 2019 }}</ref>

Bonini was the recipient of a March of Dimes Basil O'Connor Award in 1996,<ref name="zz51">{{cite journal |title=Molecular Analysis of ''Drosophila'' eyes absent Mutants Reveals Features of the Conserved Eya Domain |url=https://www.genetics.org/content/155/2/709 |journal=Genetics |year=2000 |volume=155 |issue=2 |pages=709–720 |pmid=10835393 |access-date= 26 Jul 2019|last1=Bui |first1=Q. T. |last2=Zimmerman |first2=J. E. |last3=Liu |first3=H. |last4=Bonini |first4=N. M. |doi=10.1093/genetics/155.2.709 |pmc=1461105 }}</ref> a Packard Fellowship for Science and Engineering in 1997,<ref name="zz100">{{cite web |url=https://www.packard.org/what-we-fund/science/packard-fellowships-for-science-and-engineering/fellowship-directory/bonini-nancy-m/ |title=Nancy M. Bonini, 1997 Fellow |author= |date=2019 |website=www.packard.org |publisher=David and Lucile Packard Foundation |access-date=26 Jul 2019 }}</ref> an Ellison Medical Foundation Senior Scholar in Aging Research Award in 2009,<ref name="zz24">{{cite web |url= http://www.ellisonfoundation.org/awardlist/aging-senior-scholar/2009|title= 2009 Senior Scholar Award in Aging|author= |date=2009 |website= www.ellisonfoundation.org|publisher=Ellison Medical Foundation |access-date=20 Jul 2019 }}</ref> a Glenn Award for Research in the Biological Mechanisms of Aging in 2015,<ref name="zz23">{{cite web |url=https://glennfoundation.org/awards-programs/glenn-awards/ |title= Glenn Foundation for Medical Research: Award Recipients|author= |date=2019 |website=www.glennfoundation.org |publisher= Glen Foundation|access-date=20 Jul 2019 }}</ref> and a National Institutes of Health Outstanding Investigator R35 Award in 2016.<ref name="zz25">{{cite web |url=https://www.ninds.nih.gov/Funding/About-Funding/Research-Program-Award-R35/NINDS-Research-Program-Award-R35-Recipients-FY-2017 |archive-date=21 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190321093115/https://www.ninds.nih.gov/Funding/About-Funding/Research-Program-Award-R35/NINDS-Research-Program-Award-R35-Recipients-FY-2017|title=NINDS Research Program Award (R35) Recipients FY 2017 |author= |date=28 Jun 2018 |website= www.ninds.nih.gov|publisher=National Institutes of Health|access-date= 20 Jul 2019}}</ref><ref name="zz26">{{cite web |url=https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/nih-initiates-pilot-grant-program-innovative-neurological-research |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170129203825/https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/nih-initiates-pilot-grant-program-innovative-neurological-research |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 29, 2017 |title=NIH initiates pilot grant program for innovative neurological research |author= |date= 26 Jan 2017|website=www.nih.gov |publisher=National Institutes of Health|access-date=20 Jul 2019 }}</ref> In 2010, she appeared as a panelist on Charlie Rose’s The Brain Series (Episode: The Disordered Brain).<ref name="zz31">{{cite AV media |people=Charlie Rose (talk show), Eric Kandel, John Donoghue (neuroscientist), John Krakauer, Nancy Bonini |date=22 Jul 2010 |title= The Disordered Brain |medium=video |language=en |url=https://charlierose.com/collections/3/clip/20518 |access-date=21 Jul 2019 |quote= As part of Charlie's Brain Series, a panel of experts gives insight into disorders of the brain, such as Parkinson's disease, stroke, and paralysis, and describes the latest cutting-edge treatments. }}</ref>

==Personal== thumb|100px|A.Cashmore Bonini is married to Anthony Cashmore,<ref name="zz10"/> a University of Pennsylvania Professor Emeritus best known for discovering the cryptochrome that serves as a blue light photoreceptor in Arabidopsis.<ref name="zz19">{{cite journal |last1=Nair |first1=Prashant |date=11 Jan 2011|title= Profile of Anthony R. Cashmore |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |volume=108 |issue=2 |pages=443–445 |doi= 10.1073/pnas.1018069108|pmid=21191100 |pmc=3021040 |bibcode=2011PNAS..108..443N |doi-access=free }}</ref>

==Representative publications== ===Journal articles=== * {{cite journal | last1 = Warrick | first1 = JM | last2 = Paulson | first2 = HL | last3 = Gray-Board | first3 = GL | last4 = Bui | first4 = QT | last5 = Fischbeck | first5 = KH | last6 = Pittman | first6 = RN | last7 = Bonini | first7 = NM | year = 1998 | title = Expanded Polyglutamine Protein Forms Nuclear Inclusions and Causes Neural Degeneration in ''Drosophila'' | url = | journal = Cell | volume = 93 | issue = 6| pages = 939–949 | pmid = 9635424 | doi = 10.1016/s0092-8674(00)81200-3 }} * {{cite journal | last1 = Warrick | first1 = JM | last2 = Chan | first2 = HY | last3 = Gray-Board | first3 = GL | last4 = Paulson | first4 = H | last5 = Bonini | first5 = NM | year = 1999 | title = Suppression of polyglutamine disease in ''Drosophila'' by the molecular chaperone hsp70 | url = | journal = Nature Genetics | volume = 23 | issue = 4| pages = 425–428 | pmid = 10581028 | doi = 10.1038/70532 }} * {{cite journal | last1 = Auluck | first1 = PK | last2 = Chan | first2 = HY | last3 = Trojanowski | first3 = JQ | last4 = Lee | first4 = VM | last5 = Bonini | first5 = NM | year = 2002 | title = Chaperone suppression of alpha-synuclein toxicity in a ''Drosophila'' model for Parkinson's disease | url = | journal = Science | volume = 295 | issue = 5556| pages = 865–8 | pmid = 11823645 | doi = 10.1126/science.1067389 }} * {{cite journal | pmid = 18596033 | doi=10.1074/jbc.M804817200 | volume=283 | issue=36 | title=A drosophila model for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis reveals motor neuron damage by human SOD1 | pmc=2529125 | year=2008 | journal=J Biol Chem | pages=24972–81 | last1 = Watson | first1 = MR | last2 = Lagow | first2 = RD | last3 = Xu | first3 = K | last4 = Zhang | first4 = B | last5 = Bonini | first5 = NM | doi-access=free }}. (highlighted as ''paper of the week'')<ref name="zz29"/> * {{cite journal | last1 = Kim | first1 = HJ | last2 = Raphael | first2 = AR | last3 = LaDow | first3 = ES | last4 = McGurk | first4 = L | last5 = Weber | first5 = RA | last6 = Trojanowski | first6 = JQ | last7 = Lee | first7 = VM | last8 = Finkbeiner | first8 = S | last9 = Gitler | first9 = AD | last10 = Bonini | first10 = NM | year = 2014 | title = Therapeutic modulation of eIF2α phosphorylation rescues TDP-43 toxicity in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis disease models | journal = Nature Genetics | volume = 46 | issue = 2| pages = 152–160 | pmid = 24336168 | doi = 10.1038/ng.2853 | pmc = 3934366 }} * {{cite journal | last1 = Nativio | first1 = R | last2 = Donahue | first2 = G | last3 = Berson | first3 = A | last4 = Lan | first4 = Y | last5 = Amlie-Wolf | first5 = A | last6 = Tuzer | first6 = F | last7 = Toledo | first7 = JB | last8 = Gosai | first8 = SJ | last9 = Gregory | first9 = BD | last10 = Torres | first10 = C | last11 = Trojanowski | first11 = JQ | last12 = Wang | first12 = LS | last13 = Johnson | first13 = FB | last14 = Bonini | first14 = NM | last15 = Berger | first15 = SL | year = 2018 | title = 'Dysregulation of the epigenetic landscape of normal aging in Alzheimer's disease | journal = Nature Neuroscience | volume = 21 | issue = 4| pages = 497–505 | pmid = 29507413 | doi = 10.1038/s41593-018-0101-9 | pmc = 6124498 }}

===Reviews=== * {{cite journal | last1 = McGurk | first1 = L | last2 = Berson | first2 = A | last3 = Bonini | first3 = NM | year = 2015 | title = ''Drosophila'' as an ''in vivo'' model for human neurodegenerative disease | journal = Genetics | volume = 201 | issue = 2| pages = 377–402 | pmid = 26447127 | doi = 10.1534/genetics.115.179457 | pmc = 4596656 }} * {{cite journal | last1 = Fang | first1 = Y | last2 = Bonini | first2 = NM | year = 2015 | title = Hope on the (fruit) fly—the ''Drosophila'' wing paradigm of axon injury | journal = Neural Regeneration Research | volume = 10 | issue = 2| pages = 173–5 | pmid = 25883604 | doi = 10.4103/1673-5374.152359 | doi-access = free | pmc = 4392653 }} * {{cite journal | last1 = McGurk | first1 = L | last2 = Rifai | first2 = O | last3 = Bonini | first3 = NM | year = 2019 | title = 'Poly(ADP-ribosylation) in age-related neurological disease | journal = Trends in Genetics | volume = 35 | issue = 8| pages = 601–613 | pmid = 31182245 | doi = 10.1016/j.tig.2019.05.004 | pmc = 6625889 }}

===Commentary=== * {{cite journal | last1 = Bonini | first1 = NM | last2 = Hardiman | first2 = O | year = 2015 | title = 'Ataxin-2 expands insight into the ALS clinical spectrum | url = | journal = Neurology | volume = 84 | issue = 3| pages = 244–5 | pmid = 25527266 | doi = 10.1212/WNL.0000000000001167 }} * {{cite journal | last1 = Bonini | first1 = NM | last2 = Berger | first2 = SL | year = 2017 | title = 'The Sustained Impact of Model Organisms–in Genetics & Epigenetics | journal = Genetics | volume = 205 | issue = 1| pages = 1–4 | pmid = 28049700 | doi = 10.1534/genetics.116.187864 | pmc = 5223495 }}

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * [http://web.sas.upenn.edu/bonini-lab/ Official website-The Bonini Lab] * {{google scholar id|RGN7eWwAAAAJ}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bonini, Nancy}} Category:American neuroscientists Category:American women neuroscientists Category:American women geneticists Category:American geneticists Category:Howard Hughes Medical Investigators Category:Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Category:Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Category:Princeton Day School alumni Category:Princeton University alumni Category:University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni Category:1959 births Category:Living people Category:University of Pennsylvania faculty Category:University of Pennsylvania Department of Biology faculty Category:Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Category:American women academics Category:Annual Reviews (publisher) editors Category:21st-century American women Category:Members of the National Academy of Medicine