Much as families in our community often work together to start a chapter, organize an event, or raise awareness of SMA, researchers must work together in order to find the fastest and most effective path to a cure for SMA. In addition to providing funding for ongoing SMA research, Cure SMA provides several opportunities for researchers to collaborate and advance new breakthroughs.
Cure SMA Funded Journal Articles
One of the most important ways for researchers to share information is through published, peer-reviewed journal articles. Published results allow the experiments and results to be reviewed and vetted by other scientists, who may then use these as the basis for further experiments.
In 2014, 16 new research publications were released as a result of Cure SMA-funded projects. And five additional publications were released in just the first few months of 2015. The researchers behind these five most recent publications received a total of $663,000 in grant money from Cure SMA.
The SMA Researcher Meeting
Published journal articles are not the only way researchers can collaborate. Often, researchers will discuss data even earlier in the process, to share exciting results and to get input and feedback to refine experiments and improve results. The SMA Researcher Meeting, held as part of the Annual SMA Conference, is the largest platform in the world for SMA researchers to share this early, unpublished data with fellow scientists.
At the SMA Researcher Meeting, researchers can share information both through formal presentations, and through side meetings and building of collaborative partnerships. This allows us to continue accelerating the pace of research, bringing new information, new breakthroughs, and—eventually—new treatments to the community.
Recent Cure SMA-Funded Journal Articles
2015
- The SMN structure reveals its crucial role in snRNP assembly. Seng CO, Magee C, Young PJ, Lorson CL, Allen JP. Hum Mol Genet. 2015 Jan 5. pii: ddu734.
- ECG in neonate mice with spinal muscular atrophy allows assessment of drug efficacy. Heier CR, DiDonato CJ. Front Biosci (Elite Ed). 2015 Jan 1;7:122-33.
- Assessing the Needs of the SMA Population: Survey Results of Health Care Providers and Families. Halanski MA, Patterson KG, Sund SA, Makholm LM, Schroth MK. SAGE Open. October-December 2014: 1–5. DOI: 10.1177/2158244014559018.
- Astrocytes influence the severity of spinal muscular atrophy. Rindt H, Feng Z, Mazzasette C, Glascock JJ, Valdivia D, Pyles N, Crawford TO, Swoboda KJ, Patitucci TN, Ebert AD, Sumner CJ, Ko CP, Lorson CL.
- Non-aggregating tau phosphorylation by cyclin-dependent kinase 5 contributes to motor neuron degeneration in spinal muscular atrophy. Miller N, Feng Z, Edens BM, Yang B, Shi H, Sze CC, Hong BT, Su SC, Cantu JA, Topczewski J, Crawford TO, Ko CP, Sumner CJ, Ma L, Ma YC. J Neurosci. 2015 Apr 15;35(15):6038-50. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3716-14.2015.
2014
Please see the complete list of 2014 journal articles and links to those articles.