Over $1 million goes to 7 projects
| SP-FOUNDATION AWARDS OVER $1 MILLION FOR HSP AND PLS RESEARCH |
| [Fremont, CA.] – The Spastic Paraplegia Foundation (SP-Foundation) announces that more than $1 Million has been awarded to medical researchers and investigators. The SP-Foundation completed its annual grant award process choosing the highest-ranking medical research proposals studying HSP and PLS. After the review of the SPF Scientific Advisory Board, the SP-Foundation committed $1,015,000 to the seven research projects as follows: Dr. Peter Bede – Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland – TITLE: Characterizing infratentorial pathology in PLS: the longitudinal evaluation of spinal cord, brainstem and cerebellar pathology in vivo – LAYMAN TITLE: The systematic characterization of spinal cord, cerebellar and brainstem alterations in PLS Dr. Marka van Blitterswijk – Mayo Clinic Jacksonville, FL – TITLE: Revealing determinants of PLS with long-read sequencing – LAYMAN TITLE: Drivers of PLS Dr. Frédéric Darios and Dr. Alexandra Durr – ICM-Paris Brain Institute, Paris, France – TITLE: Modulation of mitochondrial function as a modifier of SPG4 physiopathology – LAYMAN TITLE: Investigating a modifier of SPG4 physiopathology to develop new therapeutic strategy Dr. Jonathan Howard – Yale University, New Haven, CT – TITLE: CT Roles of alternate isoforms of spastin on function in vitro and in vivo – LAYMAN TITLE: How spastin cuts and amplifies microtubules to cause HSP Dr. Robert La Piana – McGill University, Montréal, QC, Canada – TITLE: Identifying novel white matter diagnostic criteria and imaging biomarkers in Hereditary Spastic Paraplegias (HSPs) – LAYMAN TITLE: Identifying new imaging diagnostic criteria in Hereditary Spastic Paraplegias (HSPs) Dr. Emanuela Piermarini Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA – TITLE: Gene therapy approach for SPG4-based Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia – LAYMAN TITLE: Treatment of SPG4-based Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia by replacing the defective gene Dr. P. Hande Ozdinler – Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL – TITLE: Investigation of NU-9 and its impact on upper motor neurons diseased by spastin mutations in HSP – LAYMAN TITLE: Investigating novel drugs for HSP patients with spastin mutations |
Press Release: SP Foundation, December 1, 2022