Jessica Henty-Ridilla, PhD, studies proteins that help provide structure to cells, and the other roles they play in the degeneration of nerve cells. What her Upstate laboratory learns about these proteins -- actin, tubulin and profilin -- may ultimately help people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease. Henty-Ridilla, an assistant professor of cell and developmental biology and of biochemistry and molecular biology at Upstate, explains the focus of her research.