CurePSP: Grants for Diseases

OVERVIEW: CurePSP supports researcher projects investigating progressive supranuclear palsy and other prime of life neurodegenerative diseases.

IP TAKE: The funding policies of CurePSP are not incredibly clear. Investigators with novel projects will have to reach out to the foundation’s staff and scientists to get their feet in the funding door here.

PROFILE: The Society for PSP was very quietly established in 1990 when David Saks contacted the National Organization of Rear Disorders (NORD) to get a list of people whose lives had been impacted by progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), a prime of life neurodegenerative disease. Prime of life neurodegenerative diseases can most easily be described as a group of brain diseases that affect people who are in middle age or in their 50s and 60s. These diseases have no cure, limited treatment options and lead to early death. CurePSP awards grants to researchers studying many prime of life neurodegenerative diseases, however, its main focus of funding attentions are on PSP, corticobasal degeneration (CBD), multiple system atrophy (MSA), frontotemporal dementia (FTD), chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

CurePSP’s Venture Grants program offers “‘seed funding’ to investigators who have innovative ideas that need ‘proof of concept’ in order to qualify for larger funding sources.” It awards up to $100,000 for one- to two-year studies. To get a broader sense of the kind of research projects supported by CurePSP, look over a listing of its current Venture Grants. The foundation also offers Enterprise Grants, which support “large research projects conducted by leading senior investigators at major institutions.” These projects may be larger in scope and time than those supported by the Venture Grants. Finally, the foundation offers Student Fellowships for summer research into PSP, CBD, and related diseases. The maximum award is $3,000.

CurePSP accepts applications for its Venture Grants and Student Fellowships, each with one grant cycle per year. Projects are evaluated by a Scientific Advisory Board, which collaborates with the foundation’s vice president of scientific affairs, and the Board of Directors Research Committee to decide on which projects to fund. Guidelines and due dates vary by program.

PEOPLE:

Search for staff contact info and bios in PeopleFinder (paid subscribers only).

LINKS: