The Eugene A. Riedel Memorial Research Grant
Contributed by: Jacqueline Riedel
This grant was established in 2018.
Prion disease can be effectively treated or delayed in animals by reducing the amount of prion protein in the brain. Recent data indicate that potent, long-lasting reduction of a specific protein in the brain can be achieved by zinc finger proteins (ZFPs) engineered to turn off a gene by binding the DNA and preventing its transcription into RNA. This offers a potential new therapeutic strategy in prion disease. We will test the ability of ZFPs targeting the prion protein gene to lower brain prion protein levels and prevent or treat disease in prion-infected mice.
Sonia Vallabh co-runs a prion research laboratory at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard along with her husband, Eric Minikel. She earned her PhD in Biological and Biomedical Sciences from Harvard Medical School in 2019. Sonia and Eric left their previous careers to devote their lives to biomedical research after learning in 2011 that Sonia had inherited from her mother a mutation that causes genetic prion disease. At the Broad Institute, Sonia works on prion disease drug discovery, with a focus on lowering the amount of prion protein in the brain. She also works on biomarkers and other tools to enable drugs to be tested for their ability to prevent or delay, as well as treat, prion disease.
Contributed by: Jacqueline Riedel
This grant was established in 2018.
Contributed by: The Highman and Nugent Families
This grant was established in 2020.
Contributed by: David Morris and Family
This grant was established in 2019.
Contributed by: The Hunter Family and Byron Jones
This grant was established in 2019.
Contributed by:
Williams Family
Established in 2021.
Contributed by: Tim Molloy and Family
Established in 2019.
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