The Cheryl Molloy Memorial Research Grant

Contributed by: Tim Molloy and Family

Established in 2019

Research Grants Supported

Simon Mead, PhD

Grant Title: DNA Extraction for Global Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS) in Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease

Location: MRC Prion Unit and National Prion Clinic, University College London (UCL) Institute of Prion Diseases

Grant Year: 2026

Thomas J. Trainer

Grant Title: The structural basis of prion-induced synaptotoxicity

Location: Imperial College London (ICL)

Grant Year: 2026

Paulina Soto, PhD

Grant Title: New strains, new risks: evaluating the host range and zoonotic potential of CWD prion strains

Location: The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston

Grant Year: 2026

Daniel Ojeda-Juarez, PhD

Grant Title: Characterizing Early Synaptic Dysfunction in Human Prion Disease Using a Human iPSC-Derived Neuronal Model

Location: University of California, San Diego

Grant Year: 2026

Prof. Neil A. Mabbott

Grant Title: Haematopoietic stem cell gene therapy as a novel therapeutic for CNS prion disease

Location: The Roslin Institute & Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, University of Edinburgh

Grant Year: 2026

Jingxin Wang, PhD

Grant Title: Development of RNA Splicing Modulators for the Treatment of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD)

Location: University of Chicago

Grant Year: 2026

Vanessa Laversenne, PhD

Grant Title: Hypomorphic low PrP expressing mice as models for prion replication and native function

Location: Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard

Grant Year: 2026

David A. Harris, MD, PhD

Grant Title: Using a Kuru-Protective PrP Mutation as a Novel Prion Therapy

Location: Edgar Minas Housepian Professor & Chair, Department of Biochemistry & Cell Biology, Boston University/Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine

Grant Year: 2026

Joaquín Castilla, PhD

Grant Title: Early vs late intervention: PrP-lowering therapy stage-dependent outcomes in sCJD and GSS mouse models

Location: Center for Cooperative Research in Biosciences (CIC bioGUNE), Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA), Derio, Spain

Grant Year: 2026

Don’s Story

Donald Friedman shares the story of caring for his sister, Phyllis, in Still Phyllis: A Caregiver’s Memoir of Dementia and Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease.