FRAXA Announces 2012 Fragile X Research Awards

2012 Fragile X Research Awards Total $1,132,923

$1,132,923 in New Program Grants, Postdoctoral Fellowships, and Renewals have been approved for the next year. We are funding over $846,000 in new projects; renewals total $285,678 and will increase as additional projects reach their one year mark.

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Lovamix: Clinical Trial of Combined Treatment of Minocycline and Lovastatin in Fragile X Syndrome

February 3, 2022

With a $66,714 grant from the FRAXA Research Foundation awarded over 2015-2017, Dr. Francois Corbin at the Universite of Sherbrooke will test the safety and synergistic effects of lovastatin and minocycline in patients with Fragile X syndrome.

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FRAXA-DVI laboratory

FRAXA Drug Validation Initiative (FRAXA-DVI)

May 6, 2021

The FRAXA Drug Validation Initiative (FRAXA-DVI) provides speedy, cost-effective, objective preclinical testing of potential Fragile X treatments. FRAXA-DVI uses in-vitro systems, behavior batteries, and gene expression and peripheral biomarker platforms to validate investigational new drugs and repurposed available compounds in Fragile X syndrome (FXS).

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Karen O'Malley

Defining Subcellular Specificity of Metabotropic Glutamate Receptor (mGluR5) Antagonists

September 22, 2017

With $217,500 in grants from FRAXA Research Foundation, Dr. Karen O’Malley and team studied the function of mGluR5 when it is inside cells. Many of the symptoms of Fragile X Syndrome (FXS) are thought to arise due to overactive metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 (mGluR5) signaling, which is normally opposed by the protein missing in FXS, Fragile X Protein (FMRP).

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PIKE as a Central Regulator of Synaptic Dysfunction in Fragile X Syndrome

February 2, 2017

With $255,000 from FRAXA Research Foundation, Dr. Suzanne Zukin at Albert Einstein College of Medicine studied signalling pathways in Fragile X syndrome.

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FRAXA Research Team. From left to right: Sandrine Lefeuvre (PhD, Pharmacologist), Sylvain Briault (MD, PhD, head of the team), Julie Maublanc (PhD student, Pharmacologist), Olivier Perche (PhD, hospital engineer), Béatrice Laudier (MD, PhD student), Betty Hébert (PhD student), Arnaud Menuet (PhD, assistant professor) and Jacques Pichon (Professor, Dr es Science).

Sensory Hypersensibility in Fragile X Syndrome and BK Channel Openers

September 12, 2016

With $366,100 in grants from FRAXA Research Foundation, these investigators at the University of Orleans studied sensory abnormalities in Fragile X mice and test the ability of a class of drugs, BK channel openers, to rescue these abnormalities.

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David Nelson, PhD, FRAXA Investigator

Fragile X Mutant Mouse Models

September 10, 2016

With $375,000 in grants from the FRAXA Research Foundation since 2009, Dr. David Nelson has developed an impressive array of advanced mouse models of Fragile X, at Baylor College of Medicine. These models are available to investigators worldwide on request. This resource has been essential for a broad, rapid distribution of Fragile X and related gene mouse models and has increased the pace of Fragile X research.

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Dr. Tom Jongens and Dr. Sean McBride study Fragile X Fruit Flies

Fruit Flies to Model and Test Fragile X Treatments

September 13, 2015

Dr. Jongens and his collaborators have found an insulin-like protein in the fly brain that is overexpressed in the Fragile X mutant fly, leading to increased activity of the insulin signaling pathway. Furthermore, they found that certain behavioral patterns in the Fragile X flies can be rescued by expressing the FX gene just in insulin producing neurons in the fly brain. In the mutant, there are other changes in the signaling pathways, including a decrease in cAMP and elevation in PI3K, mTOR, Akt and ERK activity. They now propose to study 2 medicines used for diabetes: pioglitazone (increases cAMP and decreases Akt and ERK) and metformin (inhibits mTOR), in flies and mice to validate the potential efficacy of these novel therapeutics for Fragile X.

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Bradley Alger, PhD

The Endocannabinoid System in a Mouse Model of Fragile X Syndrome

March 4, 2015

With a $128,500 grant over 2011-2013 from FRAXA Research Foundation, Drs. Bradley Alger and Ai-Hui Tang at the University of Maryland researched endocannabinoid pathways in Fragile X.

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Mara Dierssen, MD, PhD

Phase 1 Clinical Trial of Mega Green Tea Extract in Fragile X Syndrome

September 13, 2014

With a $124,000 grant from the FRAXA Research Foundation from 2012-2014, Dr. Mara Dierssen and Dr. Rafael de la Torre conducted preclinical studies in Fragile X knockout mice and a clinical trial in Fragile X patients using Mega Green Tea Extract, which contains 45% by weight epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG).

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Global Leader in Fragile X Research

FRAXA-funded researchers around the world are leading the way towards effective treatments and ultimately a cure.

Explore Current Research Grants
Help Fund the Cure

Global Leader in Fragile X Research

FRAXA-funded researchers around the world are leading the way towards effective treatments and ultimately a cure.

Explore Current Research Grants
Help Fund the Cure