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 2 years.

Friedreich’s ataxia Current Projects  

Project

Principal Researchers & Institution

Funders & Awards

Listening devices for individuals with Friedreich’s ataxia and Spinocerebellar ataxias

 

Dr Gary Rance, University of Melbourne (Australia) &
Dr Kai Uus, University of Manchester (UK)

Research project grant

Award: £31,000

Funders: Ataxia UK, Swiss Association of Friedreich’s Ataxia (ACHAF), Ataxia Ireland

Friedreichs ataxia Drug Discovery Project

Pfizer (US & UK), Dr Paola Giunti, University College London (UK), Prof Richard Festenstein, Imperial College London (UK) & Dr Michele Lufino, Oxford University (UK)

Consortium grant

Funders: The consortium has been funded by Pfizer with some financial support from Ataxia UK.

Exploring Ca2+ signalling in a Friedreich’s ataxia mouse model


Dr Paola Giunti & Dr Sandip Patel, University College London (UK)

PhD studentship grant

Award: £82,000

Funders: Ataxia UK, UCL grand challenge studentship

Beta-band EMG-EMG coherence: a novel, painless and simple screening test for the onset of corticospinal tract disease/dorsal root ganglionopathy in Friedreich’s ataxia


Dr Mark Baker, Newcastle University (UK)

Research project grant (joint call for research in biomarkers) 

Award: £84,446

Funders: Ataxia UK, GoFAR, FARA

Early and longitudinal assessment of neurodegeneration in the brain and spinal cord in Friedreich’s ataxia



Dr Pierre-Gilles Henry & Dr Christophe Lenglet, University of Minnesota Medical School (USA)

Research project grant (joint call for research in biomarkers)

Award: £92,652.40 

Funders: Ataxia UK, GoFAR, Friedreich’s Ataxia Research Alliance (FARA)

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 (UK)

Research project grant

Award: £82,355

Funders: Ataxia UK, Friedreichs Ataxia Research Alliance (FARA) US, Friedreichs Ataxia Research Alliance (FARA) Australia

Gene therapy of Friedreich´s ataxia: generation of Herpesvirus FXN vectors for use in humans

 


Dr Filip Lim, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (Spain)

Research project grant

Award: £31,450

Funders: Ataxia UK, Catalan Association of Hereditary Ataxias (ACAH)

 

Cerebellar Ataxia Current Table

Project

Principal Researchers & Institution

Funders & Awards

Detecting retinal changes in autosomal recessive spastic ataxia of Charlevoix-Saguenay (ARSACS) and other ataxias using optical coherence tomography (OCT)



Dr Paola Giunti, UCL Institute of Neurology (UK)

Research project small grant

Award: £4.500

Funders: Ataxia UK

RBFox proteins as critical determinants for cell toxicity in DRPLA and other Spinocerebellar ataxias

Dr Manolis Fanto, King's College London (UK)

Research project seed funding

Award: £14,000

Funders: Ataxia UK provided seed funding for the project to make it easier to then gain additional funding

The role of glia in the pathogenesis of the ataxic syndrome Dentatorubropallidoluysian Atrophy (DRPLA)


Dr Manolis Fanto, King’s College London (UK)

PhD studentship grant 

Award: £76,920

Funders: Ataxia UK

Investigating cerebellar glutathione in SCA14 by MR spectroscopy in order to identify a new treatment option

Dr Sarah Doss & Dr Jan Rinnenthal, Charite University Medicine Berlin (Germany)

Research project grant 

Award: £14,229

Funders: Ataxia UK & Deutsche Heredo Ataxie Gesellschaft (DHAG)

Coenzyme Q10 a potential therapeutic target for ataxia: Evaluation of therapeutic strategies


Dr Iain Hargreaves, University College London (UK)

PhD studentship grant 

Award: £75,420

Funders: Ataxia UK, UCL Impact PhD Studentship


For information on Ataxia UK funded research that has ended in the last few years, click here.