CureGRIN is now accepting applications for research funding that will help advance and accelerate our search for treatments and cures for GRI Disorder (GRIN, GRIA, GRIK and GRID). 

Detailed Research Funding Announcement  

Research Funding Application  

Thanks to the generosity of GRI families and donors, CureGRIN will invest up to $900,000 in research funding this year. 

Applications will be considered on a rolling basis, with Scientific Reviews starting on July 15, 2022. 

Duration and Budget 

• Expected duration is 12-24 months. The period can be longer or shorter if appropriate for the project 
• Maximum total costs of $100,000 per year 
• CureGRIN Foundation does not pay indirect costs 

• The award may support laboratory supplies, personnel costs, services, or the purchase of equipment necessary to conduct the proposed research 

Funding Topics 

CureGRIN is looking to fund research that helps answer the 10 questions identified in our research roadmap: 

1. What are the right outcome measures? (How do we measure symptoms pre- and post-treatment?) 
2. Can we find biomarkers? (Are there ways that GRIN Disorder changes blood or another biological functions that will be reversed with treatments / cures?)  
3. Is a cure possible at any age? (Only for young children or teens and adults too?) 
4. What’s the best delivery route for gene therapy?  (e.g., Spinal Cord? Specific region of brain?) 
5. How can we deliver gene therapies for larger genes? (Larger genes can be more difficult for gene therapy.) 
6. What are optimal drugs and molecules targeting NMDARs and related ion receptors? (Can drugs bring GRIN-related receptors into balance?)
7. Are there approved or late-stage drugs that could be repurposed for GRIN and related GRI Disorders? (Could there be drugs out there already that will help?) 
8. Which symptoms are due to receptors outside of the brain? (GRIN genes are expressed in gut, lungs, nervous system, etc.) 
9. Can we improve symptoms by targeting downstream / upstream? (e.g., oxidative stress, neuroinflammation, nutrient sensing, etc.) 
10. What are the functional and phenotypic details for each variant? (Functional analysis and natural history by gene and variant) 

We are especially interested in funding projects that answer one of more of the following: 

• Development of a conceptual model for GRI-Related Disorders based upon semi-structured interviews with caregivers, families and key opinion leaders; 

• Biomarker discovery (molecular or physiologic) for in vivo GRI models and/or patient 
• populations; 
• Validation of standardized neurodevelopmental assessment measures in GRI 
• patients; 
• Investigation of GRI variant effects on symptoms outside of the Central Nervous System in GRI-related disorders; 

• Evaluation of developmental time windows during which expression of wild-type GRI genes could compensate for neurological deficits associated with null or missense variants (rescue window); 
• Development of tools to predict the functional impact of GRI variants; 
• Investigation of the cellular consequences of GRI variants to identify / validate novel disease-modifying therapies; 
• Platform development that enables integration of natural history data, electronic medical records and activities of daily living; 
• Investigations into strategies to stabilize mutant mRNAs and increase functional iGluR protein production (i.e. mechanisms to inhibit nonsense mediated decay); 

• High-throughput screen of all FDA-approved medications or other small-molecule libraries to identify novel therapeutics in GRI model systems. 

If you have any questions about this RFP or you would like to address any of these funding topics but do not require seed funding to do so, please contact CureGRIN CEO Keith McArthur at keith@curegrin.org