ALSA Renews Funding for Biomarker Project

NEW YORK, Nov. 3 (GenomeWeb News) - A consortium including researchers from Metabolon has received funding to continue research to find biomarkers that indicate the presence of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, the ALS Association said yesterday.

The organization did not release actual figures for individual projects, said Mark Yard, from ALSA's research depeartment.

The award will last one year, beginning Nov. 1 and ending Oct. 31, said Metabolon's Stephanie Ferrell.

The ongoing project has already produced a candidate panel of molecules in body fluids that differ between people with the disease and controls. Researchers identified a set of 19 proteins.

Researchers will continue testing samples with a focus on cerebrospinal fluid, since the highest level of biomarkers may occur there, and seek proteins and metabolic biomarkers that are specific to ALS. 

Metabolon previously received funding from ALSA in February 2004 to find biomarkers that indicate the presence of ALS, also called Lou Gehrig's disease. Metabolon has also received grants from NIH's National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and from National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke since the beginning of 2004.

The consortium includes researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital, Metabolon, Duke University, and University of Pittsburgh.