The Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) announces the awarding of 18 new MDA grants totaling over $1.6 million toward neuromuscular disease research.
The grants are awarded in two categories: Development Grants and Idea Awards. Development Grants are awarded to investigators at the beginning of their careers and who are on the brink of becoming independent investigators. In 2021, MDA awarded seven Development Grants totaling $1.4 million. The MDA Idea Award Program seeks bold, innovative research ideas that can have an impact in the field of neuromuscular disease. This year, MDA awarded 11 Idea Grants totaling more than $273,000.
The newly funded projects will aim to advance research discoveries and new therapy development in multiple areas including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), Charcot Marie Tooth disease (CMT) and myotonic dystrophy.
“These grants do two very important things – help grow the next generation of neuromuscular disease investigators and provide seed funding for those creative, hard-to-fund projects that just need a little boost at this early stage,” Sharon Hesterlee, PhD, Chief Research Officer, MDA, says in a news release.
For a complete list of individual awards for this grant cycle, visit Muscular Dystrophy Association.
[Source(s): Muscular Dystrophy Association, PR Newswire]
