Asim Beg, assistant professor at University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, was awarded an MDA research grant totaling $300,000 over a period of three years to study the role of a protein, EphA4, in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). High levels of EphA4 correlate with rapid disease progression in ALS patients. Beg and colleagues will work . . .
Researchers are looking for boys with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) to participate in the ongoing phase 3 clinical trial, Finding the Optimum Regimen for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (FOR-DMD). The trial will compare three different corticosteroid regimens in boys with DMD, ages 3 to 7 years. Corticosteroids, such as prednisone and deflazacort, work as anti-inflammatories or . . .
Antoni Barrientos, professor of neurology and of biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine in Miami, Fla., was awarded an MDA research grant totaling $300,000 over a period of three years to address a knowledge gap about mitochondrial protein complex assembly defects, which are a frequent cause of inherited . . .
Chris Lorson, professor of veterinary pathology, and molecular biology and immunology at the University of Missouri in Columbia, was awarded an MDA research grant totaling $300,000 over three years to optimize an approach currently in clinical trials for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) by delivering an enhanced form of drug combined with other potential synergistic therapies. . . .
