Federal research grants totaling $4.9 million awarded for Jackson research

Date: September 8, 2008

Bar Harbor, Maine -- The National Institutes of Health announced grants totaling close to $5 million to two Jackson Laboratory scientists who study retinal diseases and embryonic development, respectively.

Professor Patsy Nishina, Ph.D., was awarded a five-year grant of $3,032,659 from the National Eye Institute to identify gene mutations that are associated with retinal diseases, and to study those mutations in mouse models. Dr. Nishina explained, "Knowing more about the genes and molecular pathways that are associated with retinal diseases may provide insights to new treatment regimens, and the models can then be used to test those therapeutics. The goal is to identify patients with the genetic variations that are associated with these diseases and then provide treatment early enough to prevent vision impairment and loss."

Professor Thomas Gridley, Ph.D., studies genes that are active in the very first stages of life; this includes a category of genes known as the "Snail superfamily". The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development, has awarded Dr. Gridley a five-year, $1,848,750 million grant to study the roles that Snail superfamily genes play during embryonic development in mammals, including humans and mice. According to Dr. Gridley, the findings of this research will be relevant to the study of both normal and abnormal human development.

The Jackson Laboratory (www.jax.org) is a nonprofit biomedical research institution and National Cancer Institute-designated Cancer Center based in Bar Harbor, Maine. Its mission is to discover the genetic basis for preventing, treating and curing human diseases, and to enable research and education for the global biomedical community.

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