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The Neurofibromatosis Research Program (NFRP) has announced the funding mechanisms for the FY11 appropriation of $16M. For full info visit: http://cdmrp.army.mil/funding/nfrp.shtml

Clinical Consortium Award - Maximum funding $9M for direct costs

Clinical Trial Award - Maximum funding $900K for direct costs

Exploration-Hypothesis Development Award - Maximum funding $100K for direct costs

Investigator-Initiated Research Award - Maximum funding $525K or $675K for Optional Qualified Collaborator for direct costs

Investigator-Initiated Focused Research Award - Maximum funding $525K or $675K for Optional Qualified Collaborator for direct costs

New Investigator Award - Maximum funding $400K in direct costs

Postdoctoral Traineeship Award - Maximum funding $100K in direct costs

I am pleased to announce that Congress has appropriated $16 million for NF research for fiscal year 2011.  This research, conducted through the Department of Defense, is critical both to those living with the challenges of NF and the brave men and women serving our country. 

As many of you know, research into treatments and cures for NF and its various manifestations has implications for those beyond the NF community.  Advancing our understanding of mast cells to stop tumor growth helps us understand how we may also speed wound healing for our war fighters.  Understanding the mechanisms of pain in NF can allow us to understand the signaling pathways that can block the pain our soldiers may face.  Imaging technologies advanced to understand NF tumor growth are proving essential in MRI volumetric imaging to the broader community, particularly our armed forces. 

We are grateful that those serving in Congress recognize the importance of NF research for those serving our country, and those living with NF.  We know that the importance of NF research validates that recognition. 

Bone abnormalities can occur in NF1, including scoliosis in the spine, and  bowing of the long bones in the legs. These can have  a major impact on quality of life requiring multiple surgeries and in the case of long bone bowing can require amputation.  Today surgery is the primary treatment for NF1 bone dysplasias. The good news is that scientists are learning more about the underlying biology of bone abnormalities and figuring out what drugs might help with treating them.  CTF has funded a good bit of this research through our Young Investigator Award and Drug Discovery Initiative (DDI) Award programs leading to development of new mouse models of bone abnormalities and initial studies to test drugs including Lovastatin in these mice.  
Yesterday and today, CTF has convened in New York City an international expert summit of clinicans and scientists from Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States to plan how we can build on what we know to get drugs into clinical trials for bone dysplasia, to improve the outcome of current surgical management.  The summit is co-chaired by Dr. David Stevenson, University of Utah; and Dr. Florent Elefteriou, Vanderbilt University and a former CTF Young Investigator and DDI Award recipient.  
This is the second in a series of bone dysplasia summits convened by CTF. The last, held in February 2008, led to the publication of a state-of-the-art report in the American Journal of Medical Genetics in 2009.  

The CTF poster 'Neurofibromatosis Networking'  has been selected once again for presentation - this time at the New York Biotechnology Association Annual Meeting.  This poster highlights the terrific resources that CTF has developed for working with biotechnology companies and to engage them in neurofibromatosis research - including the NF Preclinical Consortium, which has now established multiple collaborations with industrial partners, and the  national NF Clinic Network which in 2010 saw 10,000 persons with NF.   This poster was also selected for display at the Massachusetts Biotechnology Coucil Annual Meeting a few weeks ago and provided an opportunity for us to identify new commerical collaborators and partners in our goal to find treatments for neurofibromatosis. We aim to network with further partners at NYBA!

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is offering grant support for a U.S.-China Biomedical Collaborative to support research collaborations between an intramural NIH researcher (i.e. researcher employed at NIH) and a researcher based in China. The program will consider applications in a number of research areas but as always we’d love to see some of this money go to neurofibromatosis research!   NIH intramural researcher Dr. Douglas Stewart is seeking a collaborator in China to develop a research application focused on NF1.  Funds available are $100,000 to the NIH investigator and 300,000 Renminbi (Chinese currency) the China-based researcher. Chinese co-investigators need to be current or former grantees of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC). Deadline for application is April 14 so act now! More information: contact khs@ctf.org.