NEWS: Department of Defense Collaborates with Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research to Fund Promising Grant Applic

[Murray Charters <mcharters@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Department of Defense Collaborates with Michael J. Fox Foundation for
Parkinson's Research to Fund Promising Grant Applications
Fri May 9, 3:47 PM ET

To: National Desk, Health and Science reporters

Contact: Joyce Overdorf, 212-509-0995 ext. 214,
Beth Lambdin, 212-509-0995 ext. 230,
or Katie Higgins, 212-509-0995 ext. 231, all of MJFF

NEW YORK, May 9 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The U.S. Department of Defense
(news - web sites) (DOD) will be collaborating with The Michael J.
Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research (MJFF) to fund seven
proposals in Parkinson's research submitted under the Foundation's
Fast Track 2002 program.

The funding is part of the U.S. Army's Neurotoxin Exposure Treatment
Research Program (NETRP), which studies factors to prevent and reduce
the risk of military exposuw5Pto toxins that may cause neurological
disorders. Under this program, the DOD advances research on the
causes, diagnosis and treatment of Parkinson's disease (news - web
sites) as a model for neurological dysfunction that may be caused by
environmental or occupational exposure in the course of military
operations.

Concerned about the dangers neurotoxins increasingly posed to
military personnel, Congress established this research program in
1997. To date, the DOD's neurotoxin program has received over $112
million in research funding, awarding more than 92 grants in 22
states and 4 foreign countries. For fiscal year 2003, more than $21
million was appropriated for NETRP. The program has had many
significant scientific and methodological breakthroughs, including
linking environmental toxins to increased susceptibility to damage to
dopamine neurons and developing imaging software to measure the
1/2_brain alterations in Parkinson's disease.

"We have a shared interest: the NETRP and MJF Foundation program both
try to understand exposure risks to the body's neurological functions
and find ways to minimize potential damage, " said LTC Karl E.
Friedl, director of Research Area Directorate III, United States Army
Medical Research and Materiel Command. "MJFF's Fast Track program
generated a large draw of high quality applications relevant to our
mutual interests, and we are pleased to leverage the results of their
initiative by contributing to the development of research that could
have beneficial results for both our missions."

"Frequently the number of quality grant applications we receive
exceeds our allocated budget on a particular program," explained
Deborah W. Brooks, executive director of MJFF. "The science is
consistently ahead of the money; so we are thrilled when we are able
to work with a partner to direct funding to promising projects in the
field of Parkinson's research."

Under the neurotoxin program, DOD will negotiate to fund the
following additional Fast Track 2002 grants:

-- Georg Becker, MD, Director and Chairman, Department of Neurology,
Saarland University, Germany - "Susceptibility for Parkinson's
Disease Detected by Transcranial Ultrasound"

-- Patrik Brundin, MD, PhD, Professor in Neuroscience, Section for
Neuronal Survival, Lund University, Sweden and Peter Eriksson, MD,
PhD, Institute of Clinical Neuroscience, Sahlgrenska University
Hospital, Sweden - "Developing Human Embryonic Stem Cells for
Grafting in Parkinson's Disease"

-- Paul M. Carvey, PhD, Professor and Director of Neuropharmacology
Research Laboratories, Department of Pharmacology, Rush-Presbyterian-
St. Luke's Medical Center - "Mechanisms for Prenatal LPS-Induced
Dopamine Neuron Loss"

-- Rong Chen, MD, PhD, Research Scientist, Basic Research, The
Parkinson's Institute - "Large Scale Single Nucleotide Polymorphism
Study of PD Susceptibility"

-- Stefano Gustincich, PhD, Associate Professor and Head of
Laboratory, Biophysics and Neuroscience, International School for
Advanced Studies, Trieste, Italy - "Functional Genomics of
Dopaminergic Neurons and Mouse Models of Parkinson's Disease"

-- Zachary Mainen, PhD, Assistant Professor, Neuroscience, Cold
Spring Harbor Laboratory - "Electrophysological Monitoring of the
Interactions Between the Serotonin and Dopamine Systems During Goal-
Directed Behavior Within the Freely Behaving Rat"

-- David S. Park, PhD, Assistant Professor, Neuroscience Researh
Institute, University of Ottawa, Canada - "Neurotoxin-Immune
Interactions as an Important Determinant to the Initiation of
Parkinsonism"

Founded in 2000, The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's
Research has established a strategic campaign to accelerate, expand,
and focus funding of the world's best research targeting effective
treatment and prevention of Parkinson's disease. MJFF is dedicated to
pursuing every possible avenue to increase federal funding as well as
to support aggressive fundraising efforts in both private and
corporate arenas to ensure its goal is met. For more information on
The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research, visit


Contacts:

Joyce Overdorf, 212-509-0995 ext. 214,
e-mail: joverdorf@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Beth Lambdin, 212-509-0995 ext. 230,
e-mail: blambdin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Katie Higgins, 212-509-0995 ext. 231,
e-mail: khiggins@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



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SOURCE: U.S. Newswire / Yahoo

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