Migraine Research Foundation Announces 2014 Grants
New York, NY (PRWEB) January 12, 2015 -- The Migraine Research Foundation (MRF), a nonprofit that funds research into the causes and better treatments of migraine disease, today announced its 2014 grant awards. A record ten grants were selected from 60 proposals submitted from around the world. MRF has now funded a total of 51 grants since its founding in 2006.
MRF has once again partnered with the Association of Migraine Disorders (AMD), a nonprofit based in Rhode Island, in funding a grant, which will be known as the Association of Migraine Disorders Grant. MRF and AMD plan to work together on future projects to help sufferers by advancing our ability to understand and treat migraine.
This year’s grantees will explore ground-breaking inquiries in the areas of childhood migraine, genetics, and new therapeutics and procedures to understand migraine's causes, improve treatments, and find a cure. “We’re thrilled with the caliber of these projects. They all represent innovative approaches to unraveling the mysteries of migraine in different ways,” said Cathy Glaser, President of MRF. “MRF provides hope and help to the millions of migraine sufferers by funding research that will one day make a difference in their lives.”
Migraine affects 38 million Americans – 1 in 4 families, including 10% of all school-age children. And 6 million experience migraines on a near-daily basis. Healthcare and lost productivity costs associated with migraine are estimated to be as high as $36 billion annually in the U.S. Despite being one of the world’s most disabling diseases with devastating social and economic consequences, migraine remains misunderstood, and research is extremely underfunded.
The MRF 2014 grant recipients and their projects are:
José M. Fernandez-Fernandez (Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona, Spain)
Identification of novel, selective voltage-gated CaV2.1 calcium channel inhibitors which reverse the gain of channel function produced by Hemiplegic Migraine CACNA1A mutations.
Amy Gelfand (UCSF, CA)
Bringing Relief to Adolescents Naturally with Melatonin (BRAiN-M study).
Lyn Griffiths (Queensland University of Technology, Australia)
Association of Migraine Disorders Grant
Use of Next Generation Sequencing Technology to Identify Novel Hemiplegic Migraine and Migraine Related Mutations.
Robert Kaniecki (University of Pittsburgh, PA)
To evaluate the therapeutic effects of topical (intra-nasal) application of cornmint oil (mentha arvensis) in the setting of an acute migraine.
Michel Lanteri-Minet (CHU de Nice, France)
Intracranial pressure in migraine patients and animal models.
Dale Nyholt and Huiying Zhao (QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Australia)
Identifying genetic differences between monozygotic twin pairs discordant for migraine via whole genome sequencing.
Jes Olesen and Deepak Kumar Bhatt (Danish Headache Center)
Developing a pragmatic human model suitable for migraine drug testing combined with the study of biochemical changes during a migraine attack in humans.
Amaal Starling (Mayo Clinic, Phoenix, AZ)
Metformin for the Prevention of Episodic Migraine.
Wayne Thomas (Cell Innovations, Australia)
A randomised, placebo-controlled, double-blind, proof of concept study of the safety and efficacy of autologous stromal vascular fraction cells, in patients with moderate to severe chronic migraine headache.
Daniel Tsze (Columbia Univ., NY)
Intranasal ketorolac versus intravenous ketorolac for treatment of migraine headaches in children.
“This year’s recipients continue to demonstrate the highly original thinking MRF encourages. The medical and patient communities are grateful to MRF and the investigators it supports,” said Dr. Joel Saper, founder of the Michigan Headache & Neurological Institute, Ann Arbor, MI, and Chair of MRF’s Medical Advisory Board.
In addition to Dr. Saper, MRF’s Medical Advisory Board of distinguished scientists and clinicians includes Emily Bates, PhD, University of Colorado Denver; KC Brennan, MD, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT; Rami Burstein, PhD, Harvard University, Boston, MA; Andrew Charles, MD, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA; CA; Michael Cutrer, MD, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN; Fred Freitag, DO, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI; Amy Gelfand, MD, University of California at San Francisco, Peter Goadsby, MD, PhD, DSc, University of California at San Francisco; Andrew Hershey, MD, PhD, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, OH; Richard Lipton, MD, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY; Ana Recober, MD, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, PA; Todd Schwedt, MD, Mayo Clinic, Phoenix, AZ; and Gretchen Tietjen, MD, University of Toledo, OH.
About the Migraine Research Foundation
The Migraine Research Foundation is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that raises money to fund migraine research to discover the causes, improve the treatments, and find a cure. Information about MRF and how to contribute can be found at http://www.MigraineResearchFoundation.org.
#####
Samuel Yates, Migraine Research Fdn, http://www.migraineresearchfoundation.org, (212) 249-5402, [email protected]
Share this article