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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