Her primary focus has been on amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Alzheimer's disease, cognitive decline, the neurologic complications of diabetes and obesity, as well as how environmental toxins affect the nervous system.
[3][4] Dr. Feldman then returned to the University of Michigan to complete a neuromuscular disorders fellowship, with longtime mentor Dr. James Albers.
She currently is the principal investigator or co-Investigator of grants funded by the NIH, including the NIH Director's Transformative Research Award in 2021, as well as grants from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, and private foundations.
Feldman also leads multiple clinical trials focused on understanding and treating neurological disorders, with an emphasis on ALS and neuropathy.
The Institute's funding focused on supporting “translational” research; the kind that transforms laboratory discoveries into treatments for patients.
Feldman also established an Emerging Scholars program to support promising early-career physician scientists at the Taubman Institute.
This was never more evident than the role she and the Taubman Institute played in the 2008 election when Michigan voters passed a constitutional amendment easing restrictions on embryonic stem cell research.
Appearing on numerous television and radio programs, in newspaper articles and public speaking engagements, she was one of the main educators on the value of such research in the understanding and treatment of diseases.
In the fall of 2015, under the leadership of Feldman, the Taubman Institute collaborated in the creation of the Center for RNA Biomedicine at the University of Michigan.
Feldman's scientific (basic science) laboratory was initially established in 1988 and was later named the Program for Neurology Research and Discovery.
Feldman's research also covers amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), an invariably fatal nerve affliction more commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease.
The Phase 1 and 2 trials supported the safety and feasibility of transplanting up to 16 million stem cells into the spinal cord of ALS subjects.
In October 2021, she received the NIH Director's Transformative Award as the leader of an interdisciplinary team from Michigan Medicine and the School of Public Health that employs novel approaches to “omics” clinical data with the goal of making ALS a preventable disease.
Feldman is involved in efforts to understand how metabolic dysfunction drives neurologic complications and impacts brain health.