Angelman Syndrome Foundation increases grant award for 2009 for AS research

The Angelman Syndrome Foundation further solidified its dedication to research by increasing its grant award total to more than $1 million for 2009. Most recently, more than $988,000 in grants was awarded to six principle investigators, focusing on Angelman Syndrome (AS) research.

Dr. Benjamin Philpot of the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, N.C.; Dr. John Marshall of Brown University in Providence, R.I.; Dr. Eric Klann of New York University in New York; Dr. Peter Howley of Harvard Medical School in Boston, Mass.; Dr. Yong-Hui Jiang of Duke University in Durham, N.C.; and Dr. Scott Dindot of Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, were the most recent recipients. Each recipient's proposal was reviewed by the Angelman Syndrome Foundation's Scientific Advisory Committee and approved by the Angelman Syndrome Foundation's Board of Directors.

The approved proposals aim to target a variety of research approaches including:

• Identifying pharmacological interventions that up regulate the paternal expression of UBE3A through a large scale drug screen, which could yield the prototype of therapy for AS (Philpot)
• Targeting the underlying cause of the cognitive symptoms of AS, to ensure treatments are effective (Marshall)
• Determining critical information concerning the therapeutic potential of approved pharmaceuticals, such as clozapine, for treating those with AS (Klann)
• Identifying the substrates and pathways for the neuronal pathogenesis underlying AS and how they function, to assist in the treatment of AS symptoms (Howley)
• Understanding the function of isoforms to help define genotype-phenotype correlation in humans with AS (Jiang)
• Identifying the E6-AP isoform regulating synaptic maturation in neurons (Dindot)

"Being able to offer more than $1 million in research grants this year further supports the Angelman Syndrome Foundation's commitment to improving the lives of those with AS," said Executive Director Eileen Braun of the Angelman Syndrome Foundation. "Even amid these tough economic times, our aggressive funding of research continues to build a path to a cure, and with continued generous support we will be able to award even more funding next year."

Two grants already announced earlier this year, totaling more than $104,500, bring the organization's total grant awards for 2009 to more than $1 million. The two earlier grants announced in August focus on the therapeutic treatment of behavioral and sleep issues typically found in individuals with Angelman Syndrome (AS). These grants were awarded to Dr. Sarika Peters of the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, and Dr. Keith Allen of the Munroe-Meyer Institute at the University of Nebraska in Omaha, Neb.

The Angelman Syndrome Foundation is the largest research funder specifically dedicated to this neuro-genetic disorder. The Foundation recently announced the Angelman Treatment and Research Institute (ATRI), which will direct the organization's research funding and foster collaboration with more than 30 organizations, researchers and scientists worldwide.