Department of Defense Collaborates with Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research to Fund Promising Grant Applications 5/9/2003
From: Joyce Overdorf, 212-509-0995 ext. 214, Beth Lambdin, 212-509-0995 ext. 230, or Katie Higgins, 212-509-0995 ext. 231, all of MJFF NEW YORK, May 9 -- The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) will be collaborating with The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research (MJFF) to fund seven proposals in Parkinson's research submitted under the Foundation's Fast Track 2002 program. The funding is part of the U.S. Army's Neurotoxin Exposure Treatment Research Program (NETRP), which studies factors to prevent and reduce the risk of military exposuw5Pto toxins that may cause neurological disorders. Under this program, the DOD advances research on the causes, diagnosis and treatment of Parkinson's disease as a model for neurological dysfunction that may be caused by environmental or occupational exposure in the course of military operations. Concerned about the dangers neurotoxins increasingly posed to military personnel, Congress established this research program in 1997. To date, the DOD's neurotoxin program has received over $112 million in research funding, awarding more than 92 grants in 22 states and 4 foreign countries. For fiscal year 2003, more than $21 million was appropriated for NETRP. The program has had many significant scientific and methodological breakthroughs, including linking environmental toxins to increased susceptibility to damage to dopamine neurons and developing imaging software to measure the 1/2_brain alterations in Parkinson's disease. "We have a shared interest: the NETRP and MJF Foundation program both try to understand exposure risks to the body's neurological functions and find ways to minimize potential damage, " said LTC Karl E. Friedl, director of Research Area Directorate III, United States Army Medical Research and Materiel Command. "MJFF's Fast Track program generated a large draw of high quality applications relevant to our mutual interests, and we are pleased to leverage the results of their initiative by contributing to the development of research that could have beneficial results for both our missions." "Frequently the number of quality grant applications we receive exceeds our allocated budget on a particular program," explained Deborah W. Brooks, executive director of MJFF. "The science is consistently ahead of the money; so we are thrilled when we are able to work with a partner to direct funding to promising projects in the field of Parkinson's research." Under the neurotoxin program, DOD will negotiate to fund the following additional Fast Track 2002 grants: -- Georg Becker, MD, Director and Chairman, Department of Neurology, Saarland University, Germany - "Susceptibility for Parkinson's Disease Detected by Transcranial Ultrasound" -- Patrik Brundin, MD, PhD, Professor in Neuroscience, Section for Neuronal Survival, Lund University, Sweden and Peter Eriksson, MD, PhD, Institute of Clinical Neuroscience, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Sweden - "Developing Human Embryonic Stem Cells for Grafting in Parkinson's Disease" -- Paul M. Carvey, PhD, Professor and Director of Neuropharmacology Research Laboratories, Department of Pharmacology, Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center - "Mechanisms for Prenatal LPS-Induced Dopamine Neuron Loss" -- Rong Chen, MD, PhD, Research Scientist, Basic Research, The Parkinson's Institute - "Large Scale Single Nucleotide Polymorphism Study of PD Susceptibility" -- Stefano Gustincich, PhD, Associate Professor and Head of Laboratory, Biophysics and Neuroscience, International School for Advanced Studies, Trieste, Italy - "Functional Genomics of Dopaminergic Neurons and Mouse Models of Parkinson's Disease" -- Zachary Mainen, PhD, Assistant Professor, Neuroscience, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory - "Electrophysological Monitoring of the Interactions Between the Serotonin and Dopamine Systems During Goal-Directed Behavior Within the Freely Behaving Rat" -- David S. Park, PhD, Assistant Professor, Neuroscience Researh Institute, University of Ottawa, Canada - "Neurotoxin-Immune Interactions as an Important Determinant to the Initiation of Parkinsonism" Founded in 2000, The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research has established a strategic campaign to accelerate, expand, and focus funding of the world's best research targeting effective treatment and prevention of Parkinson's disease. MJFF is dedicated to pursuing every possible avenue to increase federal funding as well as to support aggressive fundraising efforts in both private and corporate arenas to ensure its goal is met. For more information on The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research, visit http://www.michaeljfox.org. Contacts: Joyce Overdorf, 212-509-0995 ext. 214, e-mail: joverdorf@MichaelJFox.org; Beth Lambdin, 212-509-0995 ext. 230, e-mail: blambdin@MichaelJFox.org or Katie Higgins, 212-509-0995 ext. 231, e-mail: khiggins@MichaelJFox.org | |