NIH Grant for research into inherited neuropathies

Dr Mary Reilly (MRC Centre for Neuromuscular Diseases, Department of Molecular Neurosciences,UCL Institute of Neurology) and Professor Michael Shy, (Wayne State University, USA) together with four other US collaborators have just been awarded a $6.25 million grant from the NIH Rare Diseases Clinical Research Network to fund research into Charcot-Marie Tooth disease.

Charcot-Marie Tooth disease is an inherited peripheral neuropathy which causes slowly progressive wasting, weakness and numbness in the legs and arms often starting in childhood and progressing into adulthood. It is the commonest inherited neuromuscular disease affecting approximately 1 in 2,500 people.

The aim of the Inherited Neuropathy Consortium that this grant will be used to fund is to focus on translational research to try to develop therapies for patients with Charcot-Marie Tooth disease.

This funding from the NIH is a very exciting development for inherited neuropathy research.

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