The Cystinosis Research Foundation (CRF) of Irvine, California, has awarded $1.75m in 11 new grants to researchers in the US, Canada, Belgium and Italy, who are working to find a cure for cystinosis.
Nancy Stack, president of CRF, said: “This brings the amount of funded research in 2009 to $3.3 million, the largest one-year award total ever. With more than $10.8 million in grants for cystinosis research issued by the CRF since 2003, our foundation is the leading funding source for bench and clinical investigations worldwide. Every day, CRF-funded researchers around the world get closer to unlocking the mysteries of this terrible disease. We believe we will find a cure in five to 10 years.”
The largest grant of $308,602 was awarded to Dr. Paul Goodyear, at the Montreal Children’s Hospital in Quebec and Dr. Francesco Emma, at the Bambino Ges Children’s Hospital in Rome, for a two-year study on ‘Stem Cell Microvesicles Rescue Cystinosis in Vitro.’
Eight CRF grants went to researchers on the San Diego and San Francisco campuses of the University of California and the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California. Researchers in Belgium were awarded grants for two separate studies.
“The advancements achieved so far are the result of the CRF’s focused efforts and targeted approaches to research. The CRF is funding the best and brightest scientists at world-renown institutions who are focused on better treatments and a cure for cystinosis. This strategy has produced a greater understanding of the disease and the first improved treatment now in clinical trials in more than 25 years,” added Ms. Stack.
In the spring 2009 round of funding, $1.6m in grants were issued to researchers in the US and France. The CRF currently is funding more than 30 research studies, including 10 research fellows worldwide.
The CRF has scheduled its second International Cystinosis Research Symposium for April 8-9, 2010 at the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Center of the National Academies of Engineering and Science adjacent to the campus at the University of California, Irvine, California.