CHDI
CHDI Foundation, Inc. and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) launch joint program to support the validation of novel therapeutic targets for Huntington’s disease
New York City, NY – CHDI Foundation, Inc. (CHDI) and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) have released a funding opportunity announcement (FOA) regarding an extramural program to preclinically validate therapeutic targets for Huntington’s disease (HD). CHDI, a not-for-profit virtual biotech company that is exclusively dedicated to rapidly discovering and developing therapies that slow the progression of HD, will provide a $4.5 million gift to NINDS for “set aside” funds to support R01 research projects in addition to those financed within regular NINDS funding policies.
“This partnership between NINDS and CHDI creates an important opportunity for researchers to translate discoveries about the mechanisms of Huntington’s disease into candidate drugs and other potential treatments,” said NINDS Director Story Landis, PhD. NINDS, which is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), will be responsible for overseeing the review process to gauge the merit of the applications, as well as for final funding decisions, monitoring the scientific progress of the research, and post-award management.
“The NIH is the engine driving world-leading basic research to advance our fundamental understanding of disease that leads to effective therapies,” said Robi Blumenstein, President of CHDI Management. “We see enormous value in using the established, rigorous peer review mechanisms that NINDS has in place to identify high-quality projects to validate therapeutic targets that subsequently could be translated to benefit HD patients.”
Under the terms of their awards, grantees will be required to submit data developed within this program to the public database immediately following publication of results or within six months of termination of the grant award. Principal investigators will be encouraged, but not required, to share the NINDS progress reports with CHDI.
“The focus of the projects solicited in this program fits perfectly within CHDI’s mission. Our aim is to extend our support for established HD researchers as well as motivate new investigators to enter the HD research field” said Ignacio Munoz-Sanjuan, PhD, Vice President, Biology at CHDI Management.
Awards issued under this FOA are contingent upon the submission of a sufficient number of meritorious applications. In subsequent years, the amount of funding available will be announced in Notices published in the NIH Guide to Grants and Contracts. Applications under this program announcement with set aside (PAS) must be submitted by June 30, 2010, for review at the October 2010 council. Interested parties may find more information at the NINDS Funding Opportunities website –
www.ninds.nih.gov/funding/funding_announcements/allnew.htm
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAS-10-183.html