The FamilieSCN2A Foundation Awards $100K in Inaugural Rare Genetic Research Grants

Rare Daily Staff

The FamilieSCN2A Foundation has awarded a total of $100,000 to two post-doctoral research efforts in its inaugural Action Potential Research Grant initiative to promote scientific understanding of rare but potentially devastating SCN2A gene mutations.

The grants are designed to support research in the 2019 funding cycle on changes to the SCN2A gene, which have been linked to a broad spectrum of epilepsy and autism in hundreds of children.

Awardees were selected through a competitive application process reviewed by The FamilieSCN2A Foundation’s Scientific Advisory Board, comprised of scientists and clinicians with a wide array of backgrounds and expertise in all areas relevant to SCN2A research.

The recipients of the 2019 Action Potential Research Grants are:

Caitlin Hudac, University of Washington, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Center on Human Development and Disability, who will investigate SCN2A Neural Biomarkers of Attention.

Sunita Misra, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, who will investigate: Downstream Effects of SCN2A-Related Epilepsy.

The FamilieSCN2A Foundation has worked aggressively to raise awareness and research funds and to foster collaboration among scientists globally. The organization said providing seed funding for quality research projects creates the potential to propel that research toward future investment by industry and government.

“The ultimate cure will likely be some form of personalized medicine,” Leah Schust, president of the FamilieSCN2A Foundation said. “Our Action Potential Grants, along with other major research initiatives going on in the scientific community, are critical to finding cures. Close collaboration between researchers and the patient community is driving these efforts.”

Photo: Leah Schust, president of the FamilieSCN2A Foundation