We are so excited to announce that CureGRIN has received a $450,000 grant from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) Rare As One Project to build a global research network. This is great news for the entire GRIN Disorder community, as our participation in this extraordinary opportunity can help accelerate a cure for GRIN Disorders.

If you remember, CureGRIN was one of 280+ groups that submitted a letter of interest to the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative in July 2019 in collaboration with GRIN2B Foundation and with the support all GRIN parent support groups and were fortunate to be part of a subset of 83 groups invited to submit a formal proposal in October 2019.  

We are honored to be a part of this two-year funding program that will help us develop and launch a collaborative research network in partnership with clinicians and scientists, while allowing us parents to lead and drive research priorities. Under the project, Dr. Stephen Traynelis (Emory University) will serve as our lead researcher and Dr. Tim Benke (Children’s Hospital Colorado) as our lead clinician. This program will help us increase awareness and attract the focus of hundreds of scientists and clinicians studying GRIN Disorders.

The grant allows CureGRIN to invest in a small team of dedicated people who will identify and build relationships with hundreds of researchers and clinicians around the world. In addition, the funds will be utilized to support our international GRIN Conference, translate the CureGRIN website into multiple languages, create a private online forum for researchers and families, and to create and provide additional tools and capacity-building support and training to our community.

Alongside the Rare As One grant’s focus on capacity-building, CureGRIN will continue to fundraise in order to be able to support labs and research focused on finding cures and therapies for our loved ones.

As our work unfolds, parent input is crucial for our success, and we are setting up a steering committee that will include representation from all GRIN groups. 

Keith McArthur and I will participate in the Rare As One kickoff meeting this March in the San Francisco Bay Area. We hope to also be joined by our new Research Coordinator, which this grant has allowed us to hire.  See the full list of grantees and check out our bio!

We want to thank everyone who supported us in the application process, including GRIN2B Foundation, other GRIN associations that supported our application, Dr. Stephen Traynelis and Dr. Tim Benke. This was a team effort and the many people who provided input only helped make our application stronger. Receiving this grant indeed reinforces the fact that we are better together. 

We will provide updates on our participation and activities, so stay tuned and be sure to Sign Up for the latest news and information.

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