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December 16, 2004, Chelmsford, Massachusetts. The
Spastic Paraplegia Foundation today announced recipients of
its 2004 SPF Research Grant Awards.
Vincent T. Cunliffe, Ph.D.
top right, and Jonathan D. Wood, Ph.D.,
below right, received a two-year, $90,000 grant for their proposal entitled
"Modeling the neurodegenerative processes caused by mutation
of the SPG4 gene in zebrafish and development of strategies
for pharmacological intervention".
Drs. Cunliffe and Wood are from the Centre for Developmental
Genetics and the Academic Neurology Unit of the University of
Sheffield, Sheffield in the United Kingdom. Dr. Cunliffe
explains that zebrafish embryos develop outside of the mother, allowing a unique opportunity for research: "The high
optical clarity of the embryos enables detailed visualization
of fluorescent molecular probes and internal structures in
both living and fixed specimens."
The researchers will seek to determine the role of mutant
Spastin in the neurodegeneration that leads to HSP. They
will then develop drug strategies to reduce the severity of
the condition.
Dr. Teepu Siddique, the Director of the Neuromuscular
Disorders Program at the Feinberg School of Medicine at
Northwestern University in Chicago was awarded a $90,000
grant for his project to create a "PLS Registry" at
Northwestern University.
The SPF is a national, volunteer-driven,
non-profit organization dedicated to upper motor neuron
disorders.
For more information, please contact SPF at
info@sp-foundation.org or
visit the website at
http://www.sp-foundation.org.
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