Saturday, April 19, 2025
4/19/2025
Community Project Funding/Congressionally Directed Spending - Construction - Project Director: Dr. Anumantha G. Kanthasamy Address: Center for Brain Sciences and Neurological Disorders 375 Riverbend Road, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602 Contact Phone Numbers: 706-542-2380 Email Address: Anumantha.Kanthasamy@uga.edu Website: https://vet.uga.edu/person/anumantha-kanthasamy/ In this application, the University of Georgia (UGA) seeks $5 Million in Community Project Funding/Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS) Projects funding allocated from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to support facilities and equipment for the newly established John H. (Johnny) Isakson Center for Brain Science and Neurological Disorders (CBSND) with a focus on Parkinson’s disease (PD) and other aging-related neurodegenerative disease research. Neurodegenerative diseases collectively affect ~6 million individuals in the U.S. and impose a huge emotional, social and financial burden on society. Currently available treatments may relieve some of the associated symptoms, but no effective disease-modifying drug exists to date. In fact, both drug and early diagnostic biomarker development strategies have been hampered by a lack of adequate understanding for molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of these diseases. To drive this line of research, UGA has established CBSND as the next-generation research hub for researchers who specialize in diverse disciplines, a platform to decipher underlying mechanisms and enable discovery of early diagnostic biomarkers and novel therapeutic strategies for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. UGA’s campaign will leverage its world-class resources in genomics, proteomics, glycomics, metabolomics, and bioinformatics, as well as state-of-the-art facilities for biomedical and brain imaging, structural biology, stem cell applications, and translational drug discovery. The federal funding will help CBSND establish a cutting-edge interdisciplinary core research facility that will provide major research resources for over 50 researchers. To facilitate the CBSND’s team-science endeavor to leverage its multidisciplinary approach, the initial phase focuses on instrument acquisition related to major research thrusts including biomedical non-invasive neuroimaging and telemetric electrophysiology, pathophysiological mechanisms, biomarkers and diagnostics, and translational drug discovery and precision medicine. This application has important positive impacts because it is relevant to public health and will help us uncover new discoveries in PD and other age-related neurodegenerative diseases, which will lay the groundwork to develop new types of treatments and diagnostics for these devastating brain diseases.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).