NCL Research Award

PhD Fellowship - 50,000 euros

The NCL-Foundation is going to provide an NCL research award on a yearly basis. The goal is to find a cure against the mortal children's disease Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinosis (NCL), also called Batten disease. This metabolic disorder is the most common neurodegenerative disease of childhood and is inevitably fatal. The gradual stages of the suffering are blindness, dementia, epilepsy, loss of speech, paralysis and complete helplessness.

We invite medical and basic science researchers worldwide to submit innovative clinical oriented or translational basic science projects, which can contribute to finding a cure for juvenile NCL. Scientists from related areas of science including Alzheimer?s disease, aging, and other lysosomal storage disorders, are particularly encouraged to apply with the aim to extend the NCL research community in move more efficiently towards a cure for NCL.

Grant monies (50,000 euros) are to be used for a PhD-fellowship in order to undertake the research project. In this fashion our aim is to promote the next generation of young NCL research scientists.

NCL Research Award 2010: Call for Proposals

The deadline for applications is October 31, 2010.

Download of call for proposals (pdf-document)

Download of application form (Word-document)

Please send your application solely via email to: Research@ncl-foundation.com

NCL Research Award 2009

For the second time the NCL-Foundation awarded the NCL-research prize. Matthew Micsenyi is our new awardee. Micsenyi is completing his PhD in Prof. Walkley's lab at Albert Einstein in NY. The prize money will cover his fellowship to work on the project titled "The Role of Altered Autophagy and Ubiquitin-Proteasome Function in NCL Disease Pathogenesis.".

The research goal is to better understand the molecular and cellular events that contribute to neurodegeneration in NCL disease in an effort to identify potential therapeutic targets.  In particular, the focus is on elucidating how dysfunction of the lysosome as a central metabolic coordinator impacts pathways feeding into the organelle, as well as systems allied with the lysosome for maintaining proteolytic quality control.  Two such pathways of interest in NCL disease that are essential for neuronal survival are macroautophagy and the ubiquitin-proteasome system, respectively.  Using mouse models of JNCL and LINCL we are investigating how these systems may contribute to, or protect against neurodegenerative processes and NCL disease pathogenesis.

(Old) download of call for proposals (pdf-document)

(Old) download of application form (Word-document)