ALS Society of Canada (ALS Canada), in partnership with Brain Canada, today announced $4.5 million in funding for nine new ALS research projects. A part of these funds will benefit three IRCM researchers: Éric Lécuyer, Marlene Oeffinger and Benoit Coulombe.
Éric Lécuyer, Director of the RNA Biology research unit, receives a financial support of $100,000. Dr. Lécuyer is using a unique set of scientific tools to comprehensively analyze the contents of key structures in ALS called stress granules.
Marlene Oeffinger, Director of the Ribonucleoprotein Biochemistry research unit, also receives $100,000 to support her work. Dr. Oeffinger is studying structures called paraspeckles to understand their content and how they function, as well as how they are altered in neuronal cells that have ALS-causing mutations.
Benoit Coulombe, director of the Translational Proteomics research unit, will be a close collaborator of a project led by Guy Rouleau of McGill University and the Montreal Neurological Institute, which was awarded $2.2 million. Dr. Coulombe's team will focus on the discovery of biomarkers.
ALS, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, is a disease that gradually paralyzes the body, leaving people without the ability to move, talk, swallow and eventually breathe. Most people die within two to five years of being diagnosed with ALS because the disease has no effective treatment or cure. However, ALS research has advanced to a point that many ALS research experts believe effective treatments are now a matter of 'when' not 'if.'
Source:
Anne-Marie Beauregard, Communications Officer
Institut de recherches cliniques de Montréal (IRCM) / Montreal Clinical Research Institute
514 987-5555 | anne-marie.beauregard@ircm.qc.ca
