(SALT LAKE CITY)—The University of Utah College of Pharmacy's Anticonvulsant Drug Development (ADD) Program has been awarded a five-year $19.5 million contract renewal with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to test drugs to treat 癫痫, and the major focus of the project is to address needs that affect millions of people worldwide –identify novel investigational compounds to prevent the development of 癫痫 or to treat refractory, 或耐药, 癫痫.
The ADD program began in 1975 and since then has tested the vast majority of the drugs used to control seizures in patients with 癫痫, helping millions of people worldwide. 不幸的是, almost one-third of the estimated 50 million people with the disorder have refractory, 或反应迟钝, 癫痫 and aren't adequately controlled by medications currently available. 续约合同, awarded through the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) to the U Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, represents a shift in the mission to identify new therapies, according to ADD Director 凯伦年代. 威尔科克斯,Ph值.D., professor and chair of pharmacology and toxicology and principal investigator of the contract.
"We're proud that over the past 41 years, the ADD program has played a key role in identifying and characterizing many of the drugs now available to treat patients with 癫痫 and to control their seizures,威尔科克斯说. “现在, we're looking for drugs that can modify or prevent the disease, particularly in those patients either with refractory 癫痫 or at risk for developing 癫痫 following a brain injury."
Epilepsy is a group of neurological disorders characterized by a tendency for repeated seizures over time. It occurs when permanent changes in the brain result in abnormal or excessive neuronal activity in the brain. 估计2人.9 million people in the United States and 50 million people worldwide have active 癫痫, according the Centers for Disease Control and World Health Organization. There is no cure for 癫痫 and the mainstay of treatment is anti-seizure medications.
ADD is a long-standing program dedicated to testing drugs to treat 癫痫. It has received continuous funding from NINDS' Epilepsy Therapy Screening Program (ETSP) (formerly known as the Anticonvulsant Screening Program) since its founding in 1974. In collaboration, the ETSP and the ADD Program have evaluated more than 32,000 compounds. ADD received the contract in a competitive bidding process. The renewal of the contractual relationship between the NINDS and the University of Utah reflects the ongoing commitment of the NIH and the ETSP to finding and developing novel therapies for 癫痫 and represents a unique partnership between government, 行业, 和学术界.
"The NIH-NINDS ETSP is pleased to continue the productive relationship with the University of Utah,约翰·基恩说, Ph.D., a Program Director at NINDS and head of the ETSP. "These and other efforts supported by the NINDS will help to discover new pharmacotherapies to address the unmet medical needs of people living with 癫痫."
In addition to its focus on evaluating potential candidate drugs for the treatment of therapy-resistant 癫痫, the mission of the ADD Program includes efforts to identify novel therapies for different types of 癫痫. The program also serves as a base for innovative basic research that sheds new light on the pathophysiology of 癫痫 and provides a unique training environment for students, 科研人员, and visiting scientists. Currently, the ADD program employ 18 researchers, technicians, 和工作人员. 卡梅伦年代. 麦特卡尔夫,Ph值.D is associate director and a co-Investigator of the contract and Peter J. 西方,Ph值.D.，和Misty D. 史密斯,Ph值.D, research assistant professors of pharmacology and toxicology, are also co-investigators on the contract renewal.
Although there currently is no cure for 癫痫, 威尔科克斯, who previously served as a co-Investigator of ADD before taking over as PI in 2016, believes that can be changed.
"The brain has remarkable plasticity throughout a person's life," she says. "If we learn enough about neuroscience and the details of how the brain works, it's very possible to find a cure."
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