NEW YORK, Sept. 3, 2008 ─ Continuing its commitment to furthering the scientific study of Multiple Sclerosis, The Montel Williams MS Foundation announces the recipients of its 2008 research grants. The funds, which total $325,000, are drawn solely from grassroots public donations and fundraisers.
The research grants were awarded to institutions studying new treatments for MS, methods for restoring MS-depleted myelin throughout the nervous system, and methods for early detection, which has been shown to slow or halt the progression of the disease.
"It gives me great pleasure to say that every dollar that our foundation raises from individuals throughout the year goes to research dedicated toward a cure for MS," said Montel Williams, founder, Emmy award-winning daytime talk show host and MS survivor. "We're confident that this year's grant recipients will make great strides toward our end goals."
Widely believed to be an autoimmune disease, multiple sclerosis affects more than one million people in the United States and probably more than 2 million people worldwide. The first signs of the disease usually appear between the ages of 20 and 50, and include a broad array of motor and sensory disabilities.
In order to be considered for Montel Williams MS Foundation research grants, applicants must submit applications for review by the Foundation's Scientific Advisory Board (SAB), a multidisciplinary group of leading neurologists and MS physician-scientists.
"The projects being conducted by this year's grant recipients show great promise in advancing knowledge that will lead to more effective diagnosis and treatment of MS," said Dr. Adam Kaplin, chairman of The Montel Williams MS Foundation SAB. "Early diagnosis and treatment can help arrest the suffering and loss of function brought on by MS, and understanding the causes of the disease will get us closer to a cure."
Dr. Kaplin is the Chief Psychiatric Consultant to the Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and Transverse Myelitis (TM) Centers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
The 2008 recipients of the Montel Williams MS Foundation grants are as follows:
Stony Brook University Medical Center, Stony Brook, NY
Project Title: Biomarkers in the early detection of MS
Principal Investigator: Lauren B. Krupp, M.D.
Additional Information: www.pediatricmscenter.org
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD
Project Title: The Impact of Vitamin D Replacement on Immunologic Markers in MS
Principal Investigator: Benjamin Greenberg, M.D., M.H.S.
Additional Information: www.hopkinsneuro.org
University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA
Project Title: Development of a New Treatment Regimen for Copaxone® in Relapsing/Remitting EAE
Principal Investigator: Jonathan Kipnis
Additional Information: www.virginia.edu
University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ), Newark, NJ
Project Title: Treg-Th17 Axis in Multiple Sclerosis
Principal Investigator: Dr. Christine Rohowsky-Kochan
Additional Information: http://njms.umdnj.edu
EpiVax Inc., Providence, RI
Project Title: Development of a Novel "Natural" Regulatory T-cell Therapy for MS
Principal Investigator: Anne Searls DeGroot, M.D.
Additional Information: www.epivax.com
Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden
Project Title: Neural Stem Cells in Multiple Sclerosis
Principal Investigator: Lou Brundin
Additional Information: www.ki.se
Neuroimmunology Unit, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden
Project Title: Pathogenesis and Genetics of Autoimmune Neuroinflammation
Principal Investigator: Tomas Olsson
Additional Information: www.ki.se
Accelerated Cure Project for Multiple Sclerosis, Waltham, MA
Project Title: MS Repository Program
Principal Investigator: Hollie Schmidt, Vice President, Scientific Operations
Additional Information: www.acceleratedcure.org
For more information on The Montel Williams MS Foundation, please visit www.montelms.org. For information about submitting grant proposals, please go to www.montelms.org/grants.