Ara Parseghian Medical Research Foundation
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Research

Research

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POTENTIAL APPLICANTS PLEASE NOTE: If you have never received funding from the APMRF, please submit electronically a Letter of Intent as outlined below. This procedure will allow our Scientific Advisory Board to read a brief summary of your proposed research without you having to submit the full grant application.

Please have this letter addressed to the APMRF Scientific Advisory Board to the Foundation office by February 16, 2008. Send the Letter of Intent as an ATTACHMENT to Glen Shepherd, Executive Director: gshepherd@parseghian.org

Our SAB will review all Letters of Intent. You will be notified by March 30 whether or not the SAB would like for you to submit the full grant application for consideration of funding. The full grant applications are due no later than April 30, 2008.

The Letter of Intent should not exceed 2 pages of text (12 font single spaced) and must include the following information in this order:
  1. Your name, position, title, institution, address, phone and E-mail address
  2. Title of proposed research study
  3. The objective of the study and hypothesis to be tested
  4. The relevance to Niemann-Pick Type C disease (an extensive literature review is not required)
  5. Preliminary data (this is encouraged but not essential)
  6. A statement of the methods to be used and a brief description of how the results will be evaluated
  7. Estimated amount of award you are requesting and whether for a one- or two-year period
  8. Current financial support: List each current grant or contract you have that will overlap with the conduct of this research and how overlap will be accommodated if APMRF funding is awarded. If there are no such grants, state “NONE”

If you have questions or comments on the Letter of Intent, please call Glen Shepherd at (520) 577-5106 or send him a message via email to: gshepherd@parseghian.org

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PREVIOUSLY APMRF-FUNDED RESEACHERS: If you have previously been funded by the APMRF and are seeking further funding, please complete and submit the full grant application by April 30, 2008.

The Ara Parseghian Medical Research Foundation announces an unrestricted request for applications (RFA) directed toward understanding the cause and/or developing a treatment for Niemann-Pick Type C (NPC) disease including NPC variants. NPC is an autosomal recessive neurological storage disease. The gene responsible for NPC disease (NPC1) was isolated in 1997, and NPC2 in 2000.

Yeast, fly, worm, cat and mouse homologues have been identified. NPC1 mutant mice are available through Jackson Laboratories and human NPC1 and NPC2 mutant cell lines as well as a small bank of NPC1 human tissues are available. Preliminary characterization of the NPC1 gene product suggests that it is a membrane-bound protein involved in vesicular trafficking of sterols, sphingolipids and other metabolites.

The Foundation will fund meritorious research proposals for up to a two-year period (renewable thereafter), at a maximum of $125,000/year, excluding salary support for the Principal Investigator. Investigators new to this field are encouraged to apply for funding. Targeted areas of emphasis include:

  1. Novel therapeutic approaches for NPC disease including: Identification of bioactive compounds and characterization of cell-based therapeutic strategies. Identification of surrogate endpoints that correlate with NPC disease progression including neurophysiological testing and/or genomics/proteomics approaches.


  2. Neurobiology of NPC disease: Determination of the molecular pathogenesis of NPC disease in the CNS with particular emphasis on defining the function of the NPC1 and NPC2 proteins in the CNS.


  3. Cell Biology of the NPC1 and NPC2 proteins including variants: Elucidation of the intracellular function(s) of the NPC1 and NPC2 proteins with particular emphasis on fully characterizing the role of these proteins in vesicular trafficking and intracellular signaling.

The application deadline is: April 30, 2008 with funding to begin July 1, 2008. For information please contact: Ara Parseghian Medical Research Foundation, 3530 East Campo Abierto, Suite 105, Tucson, AZ 85718. Telephone: 520 577-5106; FAX: 520 577-5212.

For complete information on grants administration, instructions and to download the grant application, please select the appropriate page from the menu at the top of this page.

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© 2008 Ara Parseghian Medical Research Foundation
3530 E. Campo Abierto, Suite 105, Tucson, Arizona 85718-3327, Phone: (520) 577-5106 Fax: (520) 577-5212, E-Mail: victory@parseghian.org