The Michael J. Fox Foundation and NIH Collaborate To Fund Drug Screening Consortia
Friday November 14, 12:50 pm ET
NEW YORK, Nov. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research (MJFF) and the National
Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) have joined efforts to create a consortium for testing candidate
drugs with potential neuroprotective benefits. The drugs will be tested on a variety of rodent models spanning several
neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease, ALS, and Huntington's disease.
NINDS initiated the program with a $1 million dollar commitment to create a consortium to identify new treatments for
neurodegenerative disorders through the testing of promising drugs identified or evaluated in ongoing peer-reviewed
projects. Seeing an opportunity to increase focus on Parkinson's disease as well as open the applicant pool to non-
NINDS grantees, MJFF joined the NINDS effort. Approximately 40 candidate neuroprotective drugs will be tested in the
consortium through 15 NINDS-funded supplement grants and five MJFF-funded awards. In all, MJFF pledged $263,000 to this
program, and more than doubled the number of drugs tested in PD models, for a total of approximately 17 drugs.
"We are extremely pleased that the Foundation was able to give added value to the drug screening program by widening
the possible candidate pool and increasing program focus on Parkinson's disease," said Debi Brooks, MJFF executive
director. "One of our strategies is to find existing opportunities where we can leverage research dollars. NINDS had
the program in place and together we recognized a chance for the Foundation to increase focus on Parkinson's."
While MJFF's participation in the program has brought increased focus on Parkinson's disease, the program as a whole
takes a much broader look at neurodegenerative diseases by calling for collaboration among scientists and creating a
new forum for information sharing. In total, five neurodegenerative diseases will be represented in the program.
"Because this program is under the umbrella of neuroprotection rather than specifically PD, we are pulling together
scientists from more distant fields who do not always work closely together," said Jill Heemskerk, program director for
technology development at NINDS. "This facilitates information sharing and helps move promising drugs from one disease
area to another, thus benefiting all groups."
The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research is pleased to award grants to the following researchers:
M. Flint Beal, MD
Weill Medical College of Cornell University
New York, NY
Project Title: "Testing of Candidate Drug Treatments for Parkinson's
Disease in Rodent Models"
Jay Schneider, PhD
Thomas Jefferson University
Philadelphia, PA
Project Title: "Potential Neuroprotective/Neurorestorative Agents for
Parkinson's Disease"
Moussa Youdim, PhD
Technion R&D Foundation - Israel Institute of Technology
Haifa, Israel
Project Title: "Ironing Iron Out in Parkinsonian Rodents Models with
Brain Permeable Iron Chelators"
Gail, D Zeevalk, PhD
UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
Piscataway, NJ
Project Title: "The Ethyl Ester of Glutathione as a Neuroprotectant
Versus Chronic Rotenone"
Thomas M. Jeitner, PhD and Gloria Meredith
Medical College of Wisconsin Finch University of Health Sciences
Milwaukee, WI North Chicago, IL
Project Title: "Cystamine: A Therapeutic Drug for Parkinson's Disease"
The drug-screening program is one element of the Foundation's aggressive research agenda aimed at finding a cure for
Parkinson's disease. To date, The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research has funded nearly $30 million in
research, either directly or through partnerships. MJFF anticipates funding approximately $20 million more by early
2004. For more information on The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research, visit http://www.michaeljfox.org
SOURCE: The Michael J. Fox Foundation / Yahoo News (press release)
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/031114/nyf089_1.html
* * *
----------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask]
In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn
