2009 Funded Research

Candian Institutes of Health Research Partnership
 

DMRF Canada works in partnership with CIHR, SHOPP program in funding excellent research in Canada. Current Funding:

Fellowships

Dr. Zen Ni - Toronto Western Hosptial - The Neuronal Origin of Voluntary Drive and its expression in human motor cortex.
 
Dr. Bahzad Elahi - Toronto Western Hospital - Regulatory effect of intra cortical inhibition on Paired Associative Stimulation (PAS) induced sensory-dependent, motor cortex plasticity.

 

DMRF Partnership
 

DMRF Canada works in partnership with DMRF in the Untited States in funding the best world-wide dystonia research projects. The following is a listing of DMRF funding for 2009.

Below are the research investigations being funded in 2009. Stay tuned for summaries of each study!

CURE DYSTONIA INITIATIVE (CDI) GRANTS

"Identification of Novel Drug Targets for DYT1 Dystonia"
Biofocus DPI

"Screening for Drugs Affecting TorsinA Function"
Cristopher Bragg, PhD and Xandra Breakefield, PhD
Massachusetts General Hospital

"Therapeutic RNA Interference for DYT1 Dystonia"
Pedro Gonzalez-Alegre, MD
University of Iowa

"Transgenic Rat Models for DYT1 Dystonia"
Kathrin Grundmann, MD
University of Tubingen

"Pathophysiological Role of the Cholinergic System in Animal Models of Dystonia"
Angelika Richter, PhD and Melanie Hamann, MD
Freie Universitat Berlin

"Whole Genome Analysis of Dystonia: Autozygosity and Copy Number Variant Assessment (2nd year)"
John Hardy, PhD
University College London, UK

"siRNA and Pharmacological Intervention Strategies for DYT1 Dystonia (2nd year)"
Yuqing Li, PhD
University of Alabama, Birmingham

RESEARCH GRANTS

"Dopamine Neuron Development in a Novel Zebrafish Model of DYT1 Dystonia "
Edward Burton, PhD
University of Pittsburgh

"Effects of Internal Globus Pallidus Deep Brain Stimulation for Dystonia on Cortical Circuits and Plasticity"
Robert Chen, MD, PhD
Toronto Western Hospital

"Function of Torsin A in Cell Polarization (2nd year)"
Gregg Gundersen, PhD
Columbia University

"rTMS for the treatment of Focal Hand Dystonia (2nd year)"
Teresa Kimberley, PhD
University of Minnesota

"Characterization of Striatal Muscarinic Receptor Function and Their Interplay with Endocannabinoids in a Mouse Model of DYT1 Dystonia (2nd year)"
Antonio Pisani, MD
University of Rome Tor Vergata, Italy

"Longterm Plasticity in Dystonia Patients Treated with Deep Brain Stimulation"
John Rothwell, PhD
University College London

"Subthalamic Nucleus and Motor Cortex Local Field Potentials in Patients with Dystonia"
Philip Starr, MD, PhD
University of California, San Francisco

"Characterization of Substrate Interactions with TorsinA (2nd year)"
Phil Thomas, PhD
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center

FELLOWSHIPS

"The Role of the DYT6 Gene in Primary Dystonia"
Tatiana Fuchs, PhD
Mount Sinai School of Medicine

"Function of Frontal and Parietal Association Cortex in Focal Hand Dystonia (2nd year)"
Leighton Hinkley, PhD
University of California, San Francisco

"Reduced Striatal RGS9 in an Animal Model of DYT1 Dystonia"
Jayms Peterson, PhD
Northwestern University

"Cerebellar Dysfunction in Focal Dystonia"
Robert Raike, PhD
Emory University