Steve Cannon, professor of physiology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, was awarded an MDA research grant totaling $300,000 over three years to investigate a new hypothesis about the underlying mechanisms involved in periodic paralysis. New preliminary studies in research models have revealed a profound loss of muscle force within minutes of recovery from exposure to high carbon dioxide levels, which Cannon and colleagues suggest may be a surrogate for the exercise-induced attacks of weakness that occurs in patients. Cannon and his team will investigate the mechanistic basis for exercise-induced weakness in periodic paralysis, will strategically select drugs that may block this process, and will test the potential of these drugs to foreshorten or prevent attacks of periodic paralysis.
Funding for this MDA research grant began Feb. 1, 2016.
Grantee: Periodic Paralysis - Steve Cannon, M.D., Ph.D.
Grant type: Research Grant
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