Winners Recognized for Groundbreaking Scientific Discovery on Neurodegenerative Diseases
Fort Worth, Texas, January 26, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — The Rainwater Charitable Foundation, one of the largest independent funders of neurodegenerative disease research, today announced this year’s Rainwater Annual Prize for outstanding innovation and groundbreaking early-career scientists in neurodegenerative disease research. announced the winners. This year’s Outstanding Innovation Prize will be awarded to the following teams:Doctor Don W. Cleveland, University of California, San Diego (UCSD); and Dr. Timothy M. Miller, University of Washington. Ph.D. Suzanne Wegman, the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) receives the Rainwater Prize for innovative early-career scientists. Prizes will be announced at the Eurotau 2023 Conference. April 27, 2023 of Lille, France.
The Rainwater Prize Program recognizes scientific advances towards new treatments for neurodegenerative diseases associated with the accumulation of tau protein in the brain, raises awareness of gaps in neurodegenerative research, and brings new researchers into the tauopathy field. Promote scientific discovery by guiding and awarding scientific achievements. It could lead to innovative and effective treatments.
The Rainwater Award for Outstanding Innovation in Neurodegenerative Disease Research is shared by:
Collaborator Drs. Bennett, Cleveland, and Miller for their work advancing antisense technology for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, including ALS Huntington Diseases of the last 20 years, Alzheimer’s disease, tauopathy.
- Dr. Bennett, Ionis Chief Scientific Officer, advances antisense technology and continues to expand Ionis’ drug discovery platform. He has been working on antisense his oligonucleotides for the past 30 years. He began investigating the potential of antisense technology to develop treatments for ALS and Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) almost 20 years ago. Nusinersen, the first treatment for SMA, was approved by his FDA in 2016 and has since been approved in more than 50 countries worldwide.he is currently undergoing treatment for Huntington This disease is in late-stage clinical trials and is leading the discovery and development of other drugs for neurological disorders.
- Dr. Cleveland, Chair and Distinguished Professor of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of California, San Diegodiscovered, purified, and characterized the tau protein, a major component of filamentous deposits in cells that define many neurodegenerative diseases, including progressive supranuclear palsy. With Bennett and Miller, he developed a designer DNA drug that utilizes technology to silence genes in the human nervous system, studied in seven different clinical trials aimed at treating his ALS. Huntington Disease, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease.
- Dr. Miller, Research Vice Chair and Professor of Neurology David Clayson University of Washington medical school of St. Louishas been a leader for over 20 years in helping find effective treatments for neurodegenerative diseases such as ALS and tauopathy. In 2007, Dr. Miller created his ALS Translational Research Program and began promising trials to improve the lives of people with neurological disorders. Recent results using his SOD1 ASO, developed with Cleveland and Bennett, show a dramatic effect on slowing SOD1 ALS. His lab led the early stages of development of BIIB080/IONIS-MAPT.prescriptionan antisense drug that lowers tau mRNA and protein as a treatment for tauopathies.
“We are honored by this award and look forward to using this research funding to advance the next generation of efforts,” said Dr. Cleveland. “The rainwater bounty will help grow new neurons and continue developing strategies to chronically suppress tau.”
Rainwater Award for Innovative Early Career Scientists:
- Dr. Wegmann, Research Group Leader at DZNE, to study the action of tau protein in neurodegenerative diseases, utilizing a variety of experimental models and methodologies to discover the normal and malfunctioning functions of tau in diseased brains. She found a way to master the arduous test-tube-to-human leap by examining biochemical, biophysical, and cytological results on postmortem human brain tissue. . Her general interest in solving difficult problems led her to pursue a degree in engineering, later expanding into tau biophysics and brain pathology. Wegmann and her group are now focused on identifying novel interactions of tau and determining the role of tau phase segregation in Alzheimer’s disease and tauopathies.
“I am very honored and hope that this award will further advance research into how tau protein exerts its toxic effects in a variety of ways that are not fully understood,” said Dr. Wegmann. Stated. “We do not yet understand the actual function of this protein. We are trying to extend our knowledge of its basic biology to help study disease.”
Doctor. Cleveland, Bennett, Miller, and Wegmann nominated for Outstanding Innovation at Rainwater Prize ($400,000) and early career ($200,000) The award is based on published, peer-reviewed research that has made significant contributions to the study of neurodegenerative diseases. They were selected based on their research quality and applicability to tauopathy, leadership, mentorship, and positive impact within the scientific community.
“I couldn’t be more excited for this year’s Rainwater Award winners. Todd Rainwater, Director of the Rainwater Charity Foundation. “The presentation of the Outstanding Innovation Award to a collaborative group of scientists advancing drug discovery efforts recognizes the importance of team science. , which highlights exciting scientific discoveries happening in the world. Europe and around the world. I know my father is very proud of these scientists and their important advances in the field.
For more information on this year’s winners, please visit www.rainwaterprize.org.
About Rainwater Charitable Foundation Medical Research
The Rainwater Charitable Foundation (RCF) was founded in the early 1990s by prominent private equity investors and philanthropists. Richard E. RainwaterRCF supports a variety of programs in K-12 education, medical research, and other worthy causes. The Rainwater Charitable Foundation Medical Research Team manages the Tau Consortium and the Rainwater Prize Program to fulfill its mission of accelerating the development of new diagnostics and therapeutics for tau-related neurodegenerative diseases.Above $161 million The Rainwater Foundation has invested in medical research and to date has helped advance eight treatments into clinical trials. For more information, visit rainwatercharitablefoundation.org.
Corporate contact:
Jordan Brainerd
Rainwater Charity Foundation
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(817) 820-2708
Media contact:
Shannon Fox
edelman
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(646) 262-7427
Source Rainwater Charitable Foundation
