Call for Projects 2008 : Grant recipients :

SMA Europe is pleased to announce the award of over €750,000 for research into Spinal Muscular Atrophy – SMA, in response to its recent Call for Research Projects 2008.

The five institutions which attracted support are :

• University of Lisbon : Professor Margarida Gama Carvalho (“Characterization of post-transcriptional control mechanisms regulating SMN2 gene expression.”)
• Università Cattolica, Rome : Professor Eugenio Mercuri (“Outcome measures in SMA types II and III”)
• University of Milan : Professor Giacomo Comi (cofunded with FSMA) (“Development of a stem cell approach for treating Spinal Muscular Atrophy”)
• Institut de Myologie, Paris : Dr Martine Barkats (“Evaluation of AAV-mediated gene therapy in murine and feline SMA models”)
• University of Missouri, USA : post-doctoral fellow Dr Monir Shababi (“A Two-Pronged Approach to Develop a Treatment for Spinal Muscular Atrophy”)