Stony Brook University scientist receives $3.9 million NIH grant for ALS research

Stony Brook University scientist Josh Dubnau, PhD, has received a $3.9 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to investigate the impact of environmental stressors and other external factors that contribute to the development of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The research is based on his continuing work with "jumping genes" and sporadic forms of ALS, which make up most cases where no known genetic cause has been identified.

The research will build on his laboratory work detailed in this piece about jumping genes. Additionally, he and colleague Roger Sher, PhD, have received a $300,000 three-year grant from the ALS Ride for life, a supporter of the Stony Brook Neurosciences Institute's Christopher Pendergast ALS Center of Excellence, to fund ongoing ALS research with the jumping gene hypothesis to be tested in mice.