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$25,000
Grant Awarded November
2003:
Drosophila
melanogaster (fruitfly)
model system to
investigate the
molecular pathogenesis
of Spinal and Bulbar
Muscular Atrophy
The first
ever KDA grant was
awarded to J. Paul
Taylor, M.D., Ph.D.,
University of
Pennsylvania (previously
a Fellow in the
Neurogenetics Branch of
the National Institute
of Neurological
Disorders and Stroke (NINDS),at
the National Institutes
of Health).
Dr. Taylor's proposal
involves the use of a
Drosophila melanogaster
(fruitfly) model system
to investigate the
molecular pathogenesis
of Spinal
and Bulbar Muscular
Atrophy (SBMA, aka:
Kennedy's Disease,
Kennedy's Syndrome), a
hereditary motor neuron
disease. The study will
investigate the possible
role that altered
transcription may play
in this disorder and in
particular will examine
the possible roles of
histone acetylation and
specific transcription
factors. These
experiments are based on
important advances in
the field of
neurodegenerative
disease research which
demonstrate that
neurodegenerative
phenotypes may be
faithfully reproduced in
fruitfly model systems,
and that genetic and
pharmacologic
manipulation of these
models can provide
mechanistic and
potentially therapeutic
insight.
This proposal stands an
excellent chance of
providing important new
information about
mechanisms of
pathogenesis in SBMA.
It may also provide
information that will
aid the development of
therapeutics for the
treatment of SBMA and
similar disorders.
The KDA would like to
thank Erik Schweitzer,
M.D., Ph.D. (Associate
Research Neuroscientist
Brain Research
Institute, UCLA), Harry
T. Orr, Ph.D. (Tulloch
Professor of Genetics,
Department of Laboratory
Medicine and Pathology
-- Director, Institute
of Human Genetics --
University of Minnesota)
and Christopher A. Ross
M.D. Ph.D. (Professor of
Psychiatry and
Neuroscience -- Johns
Hopkins University
School of Medicine --
Division of
Neurobiology, Department
of Psychiatry) for their
extremely valuable
impartial reviews and
scoring of the grant
proposals. We would
also like to thank our
Scientific Review Board
-- Dr. Kenneth Fischbeck
(NIH/NINDS), Dr. Diane
Merry (Thomas Jefferson
University) and Dr.
Albert La Spada
(University of
Washington) for
their guidance and
participation in the
discussions of the grant
reviews and
scoring.
We would also like to
thank all those who have
donated funds to the KDA
which has allowed this
grant proposal to be
funded. Its with your
help that we can get the
needed funds to the
appropriate researchers
to help further Kennedy's
Disease research and
hopefully bring us to a
cure or treatment
Update provided June
2004 -
Click Here.
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French
German
Italian
Spanish
Portugiese
Japanese
Chinese
Fruit
Fly Model 
