Carlos T. Moraes, PhD, professor of Neurology at the University of Miami’s Miller School of Medicine in Florida, has an ongoing MDA research grant (totaling $300,000 over three years) to develop gene-editing enzymes that can be used to correct genetic mutations causing mitochondrial myopathies. Mitochondrial diseases caused by mutations in the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) are most . . .
James Ervasti, PhD, professor of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Biophysics at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, was awarded an MDA research grant totaling $300,000 over three years to study the mechanical characterization of dystrophin in Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). DMD is caused by a mutation in the dystrophin gene on the X chromosome that . . .
MDA announced today the awarding of 25 new MDA grants totaling more than $6.6 million toward research focused on a variety of rare neuromuscular diseases (NMDs), including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT), congenital muscular dystrophy (CMD), Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD), Friedreich’s ataxia (FA), inclusion body myositis (IBM), limb-girdle muscular dystrophy . . .
Stephen Meriney, PhD, professor of Neuroscience and Psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh, was awarded an MDA research grant totaling $302,587 over three years to develop a combinatorial drug approach to discover possible therapeutics for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). His work is focused on testing a novel calcium channel agonist (an agonist produces the same . . .
The ALS Association, ALS Finding a Cure (ALSFAC), and MDA announced they have jointly awarded a clinical trial grant totaling more than $2.5 million over two-and-a-half years to leading investigators at the Houston Methodist Neurological Institute and Massachusetts General Hospital. The principal investigator is Stanley Appel, MD, co-director of Houston Methodist Neurological Institute, chair of . . .
MDA has awarded MDA Venture Philanthropy (MVP) funding totaling $389,463 over two years to Rachelle H. Crosbie, PhD, professor and chair of Integrative Biology and Physiology at the University of California, Los Angeles. The award will support the development of a small molecule drug that increases expression of sarcospan, a protein that may help to . . .
Like many pre-medical students, Justin Cohen discovered along the way that what he really liked was research. However, unlike others who exchange the stethoscope for a microscope, Justin had a strikingly different motivating factor — he has been living with the disease he studies, facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD), for almost as long as he can . . .
Today, the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) announced the awarding of eight new grants totaling more than $2 million toward research focused on amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a disease in which muscles become weak and eventually nonfunctional. Since its inception, MDA has invested more than $165 million in ALS research, and in the last five years . . .
On Mar. 1, the Charcot-Marie-Tooth Association (CMTA) and the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) announced that they have jointly awarded a research grant totaling $276,430 over three years to Kleopas Kleopa, M.D., professor and senior consulting neurologist at the Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics, Cyprus School of Molecular Medicine, in Nicosia, Cyprus. Dr. Kleopa is . . .
The Muscular Dystrophy Association has awarded an MDA Venture Philanthropy (MVP) grant totaling $300,000 over two years to AcuraStem to support preclinical development of a novel small molecule therapeutic for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The treatment has the potential to be transformative for a broad range of ALS patients. MVP grants are awarded to researchers . . .
