Scripps Research Institute received a $7.2 million grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, part of the National Institutes of Health, to develop new treatments for frontotemporal dementia and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, according to the South Florida Business Journal.
Department of Chemistry professor Matthew Disney, PhD, will head the five-year project and work with Leonard Petrucelli, PhD, chair of neuroscience at Mayo Clinic's Florida campus, and Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins School of Medicine professor Jeffery D. Rothstein, MD.
"Our work has changed the view of what is considered a druggable target, and this grant is a clear recognition of that accomplishment," Dr. Disney told South Florida Business Journal. "The question we can now try and answer is if these studies can help to advance the science to bring a drug to ALS patients."