Research Funded by Ataxia UK Ataxia UK funds a wide variety of research projects. Below is a list of all projects currently being funded, and of projects that have ended in the last two years. Friedreich’s ataxia Project Principal Researchers & Institution Funders & Awards Investigating the role of bioactive sphingolipids in Friedreich's ataxia Dr Sara Anjomani Virmouni, Division of Biosciences, Brunel University, London (UK) Research project grant Award: £26,471 Non-invasive transcranial cerebellar stimulation: double blind, randomised, sham-controlled study followed by an open label extension phase Dr Barbara Borroni, Department of Clinical and Experimental Sciences, University of Brescia, Brescia (Italy) Research project grant Award: £25,000 Funders: Ataxia UK Molecular mechanisms of R-loop-mediated frataxin gene silencing Dr Natalia Gromak, Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford (UK) Research project grant Award: £35,000 Funders: Ataxia UK Generating new Friedreich's ataxia models for validating HSV-1 FXN gene therapy in Dorsal Root Ganglia Dr Filip Lim, Department of Molecular Biology, Universidad Autonoma de Madrid (Spain) Research project grant Award: £30,000 Funders: Ataxia UK Targeting metabolic remodelling as a therapeutic strategy for cardiomyopathy in Friedreich’s ataxia Dr Christopher Carroll, St George's University, London (UK) Research project small grant Award: £5,000 Funders: Ataxia UK, FARA RNA-FISH evaluation of the FXN gene transcription: focus on cell-to-cell and cellcycle modulation, and the role in origin and evolution of theFriedreich's ataxia GAA-repeat mutation Prof Antonella Russo, University of Padova (Italy) Research project small grant Award: £4,800 Funders: Ataxia UK Effect of vitamin D in frataxin-deficient DRG neurons from rat and iPS cells obtained from FA patients Dr Joaquim Ros, Dr Jordi Tamarit & Dr Marta Llovera, Universitat de Lleida (Spain) Research project grant Award: £42,000 Funders: Ataxia UK, ACAH, Ataxia Ireland Studying G-CSF as a potential treatment for Friedreich’s Ataxia Dr Alastair Wilkins, Dr Kevin Kemp, & Professor Neil Scolding, University of Bristol (Bristol, UK) Research project grant Award: £58,061 Funders: Ataxia UK, FARA European Friedreich's Ataxia Consortium for Translational Studies (EFACTS) Massimo Pandolfo, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Brussels (Belgium), Jörg B. Schulz, University Hospital RWTH Aachen, (Germany), Paola Giunti University College London (London, UK), Alexandra Dürr, UPMC Université Paris (France), Mathieu Anheim, Hôpitaux niversitaires de Strasbourg(France), Sylvia Boesch, Medical University Innsbruck (Austria), Caterina Mariotti, FondazioneIRCCS Istituto Neurologico “C.Besta” (Italy), Enrico Bertini, Bambino Gesù Children’s Research Hospital (Italy), Francesc Palau, Pediatric Institute for Rare Diseases – IPER (Spain) Research project grant Award: £174,600 Funders: Ataxia UK, AFAF, AtaxiaIreland, FEDAES, DHAG, AISA Effectiveness of LSVT in improving communication in people with Friedreich’s ataxia Prof Anja Lowit, Strathclyde University (Glasgow, UK) Research project small grant Award: £8,997 Funders: Ataxia UK, Swiss Association of Friedreich’s Ataxia (ACHAF)Finding a treatment for Friedreich’s ataxia: identification and characterisation of frataxin up-regulating compounds from the Pfizer’s small molecule library’ Finding a treatment for Friedreich’s ataxia: identification and characterisation of frataxin up-regulating compounds from the Pfizer’s small molecule library’ Pfizer (US & UK), Dr Paola Giunti, University College London & Prof Richard Festenstein, Imperial College London (London, UK) & Dr Michele Lufino, Oxford University (Oxford, UK) Consortium grant Funders: The consortium has been funded by Pfizer with some financial support from Ataxia UK. An investigation to determine the efficacy and safety of lentivirus mediated FXN gene delivery for the correction of Friedreichs ataxia Dr Michael Themis & Dr Mark Pook, Brunel University London (London, UK) Research project grant Award: £82,355 Funders: Ataxia UK, Friedreichs Ataxia Research Alliance (FARA) US, Friedreichs Ataxia Research Alliance (FARA) Australia Cerebellar ataxia Project Principal Researchers & Institution Funders & Awards Preclinical development of an amelioration therapy for Dentatorubro-Pallidoluysian Atrophy Dr Giovanni Stevanin, Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle épinière (ICM), Paris (France) Research project grant Award: £100,000 Funders: Ataxia UK. This project has been made possible by a donation from Andrea and Paul Compton, who have a son affected by DRPLA, and have created a foundation called CureDRPLA. Non-invasive transcranial cerebellar stimulation: double blind, randomised, sham-controlled study followed by an open label extension phase Dr Barbara Borroni, Department of Clinical and Experimental Sciences, University of Brescia, Brescia (Italy) Research project grant Award: £25,000 Funders: Ataxia UK Regulation of alternative splicing of voltage-gated Ca2+ channels by CRISPR/Cas9-mediated genome editing as potential genetic therapy for episodic ataxia type 2 Dr Lorenzo Cingolani, Center for Synaptic Neuroscience (NSYN), Fondazione Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT), Genoa (Italy) Research project small grant Award: £5,000 Funders: Ataxia UK Modelling SCA11 in cultured cells using CRISPR/Cas9 Dr Mariana Santos Moreda Graca, Institute for Molecular and Cell Biology (IBMC), Porto (Portugal) Research project small grant Award: £5,000 Funders: Ataxia UK Discrimination of wild type and mutant ATXN3 mRNA levels by qPCR: protocol design and implementation Dr Mafalda Raposo, Dr Manuela Lima, University of the Azores(Portugal) Research project small grant Award: £5,000 Funders: Ataxia UK Modelling the molecular pathogenesis of ARSACS with patient cells: disruptedproteostasis in ARSACS neurons Professor Paul Chapple,Queen Mary University of London & Professor Michael Cheetham, University College London (London, UK) Research project grant Award: £70,000 Funders: Ataxia UK, The ARSACS Foundation Neuroprotective therapeutic approach for Spinocerebellar Ataxia type 2:pharmacological targeting of AMPK Dr Clévio David Rodrigues Nóbrega, Universidade do Algarve (Portugal) Research project grant Award: £9,500 Funders: Ataxia UK Novel pharmacological approach to treat Episodic ataxia type 1 Dr Paola Imbrici, University of Bari (Italy) Research project small grant Award: £5,000 Funders: Ataxia UK DNA repair pathways underlie common genetic mechanisms that modulate onset in spinocerebellar ataxias and other inherited ataxias Dr Conceicao Bettencourt, Prof Henry Houlden, Prof Wood & ProfGiunti, Institute of Neurology, University College London (London, UK) PhD studentship grant Award: £70,000 Funders: Ataxia UK, ACAH, R+SCAs, UCL Impact PhD Studentship Scheme For information on Ataxia UK funded research that has ended in the last few years, click here.