Michael J. Fox Foundation Awards Over $2 Million for Validation of 10 Parkinson's...

Michael J. Fox Foundation Awards Over $2 Million for Validation of 10
Parkinson's Therapeutic Targets

NEW YORK, July 14 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Michael J. Fox Foundation for
Parkinson's Research today announced approximately $2.1 million in total
funding to 10 research teams working to validate therapeutic targets for
Parkinson's disease.

Target validation is an essential and historically underresourced phase of
drug development in which researchers work to determine whether a molecule or
mechanism of interest is a true drug target. While researchers have continued
to identify novel targets in recent years through genetic, biochemical and
epidemiological studies, a lack of funding for validation studies has long
been a major roadblock to the efficient translation of these discoveries into
practical therapies that benefit people living with PD.

The Foundation's Target Validation initiative, one of MJFF's Edmond J. Safra
Core Programs for PD Research, provides intellectual and financial resources
to help push potential PD drug targets one step closer to clinical trials and
Parkinson's patients.
Funded projects are listed below. Detailed information, including grant
abstracts and researcher bios, is available on the Foundation's Searchable
Database of Funded Grants.
As with all MJFF grants, full funding is dependent on the achievement of
predetermined, specific milestones and on researchers' agreement to make the
results of their work available to the Parkinson's research community.

The transcription factor Nrf2 as a target to reduce neurodegeneration and
neuroinflammation in Parkinson's disease
Antonio Cuadrado, PhD, Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, Spain

Neuroprotection by PXDNL, a novel heme-containing peroxidase
J. Timothy Greenamyre, MD, PhD, University of Pittsburgh

Validation of Nox1/Rac1, a novel molecular source of reactive oxygen species
in the nigrostriatal pathway, as a target for Parkinson's disease therapy
Yoon-Seong Kim, MD, PhD, Weill Medical College of Cornell University

Upregulation of MsrA: A neuroprotective strategy for the treatment of
Parkinson's disease
Deniz Kirik, MD, PhD, Lund University (Sweden) and Jean-Christophe Rochet,
PhD, Purdue University

Use of Smo1 antagonists to boost endogenous GDNF expression in the adult
striatum
Andreas H. Kottman, PhD, Columbia University

Polo-like kinases as therapeutic targets for Parkinson's disease
Hilal A. Lashuel, PhD, and Patrick Aebischer, MD, Ecole Polytechnique Federale
de Lausanne (Switzerland) and Deniz Kirik, MD, PhD, Lund University (Sweden)

Validation of cyclophilin D, a protein involved in the mitochondrial
permeability transition, as a target for Parkinson's disease therapy
Mathieu Lesort, PhD, University of Alabama at Birmingham

The therapeutic role of CMA-MEF2D in the survival of dopamine neurons
Zixu Mao, PhD, Emory University

SHP-2 phosphatase: A new pharmacological target for Parkinson's disease?
Maria-Cristina Missale, PhD, University of Brescia (Italy)

Validation of Nurr1 as a Drug Target for the Treatment of PD
Demetrios K. Vassilatis, PhD, Foundation for Biomedical Research of the
Academy of Athens, Greece

About The Michael J. Fox Foundation
Founded in 2000, The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research is
dedicated to ensuring the development of a cure for Parkinson's disease within
the coming decade through an aggressively funded research agenda. The
Foundation has funded over $145 million in research to date.

SOURCE The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research

Media: Holly Barkhymer, +1-212-509-0995 x242, hbarkhymer@michaeljfox.org,
Research: Kirsten Carlson, PhD, +1-212-509-0995 x247,
kcarlson@michaeljfox.org, both of The Michael J. Fox Foundation for
Parkinson's Research