Dr. Schmahmann’s Laboratory for Neuroanatomy and Cerebellar Neurobiology urgently needs funds to support his research fellows and assistants. To propel his research going forward, funds are needed to expand his clinical and research team in collaboration with the MassGeneral Institute for Neurodegenerative Disease (MIND).
“Unlike other projects, I don’t need funds to build a building. I need funds to build a team. The need to attract the best and brightest investigators the world has to offer is critical if we are going to connect the cerebellum to cures and make a difference for Catie and millions like her.”
– Jeremy D. Schmahmann, MD
Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School
Neurologist, Massachusetts General Hospital
The Immediate Need for Funds:
The Schmahmann Lab and Ataxia Unit are running clinical trials and natural history studies in the spinocerebellar ataxias, multiple system atrophy, Chiari malformation, and cerebellar developmental disorders. All this depends on Clinical Research Coordinators, Lab and Data Managers, and research technicians and students. The Lab’s brain imaging studies using MRI, and planned interventions using neuromodulation to stimulate the cerebellum in neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders have potential to shed new light on the cerebellum and its role in health and disease. This Translational Research program has great potential for improving the lives of patients with ataxia, and is not sustainable without philanthropic support.
The Future Need for Funds:
1) To Build and Support a World-class Team
“Every week we receive requests from highly skilled scientists to join the lab, but there are no funds. Imagine if we could say ‘yes.'”
– Jeremy D. Schmahmann, MD
Answering the next generation of questions raised by Dr. Schmahmann’s groundbreaking research requires investigators at multiple levels of expertise and training. Funding is needed to build and support a world-class team. With your help Dr. Schmahmann can say “yes.”
THE TEAM
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THE SUPPORT
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2) To continue to collaborate with other World-class Organizations
Funding will enable Dr. Schmahmann’s multidisciplinary research efforts to flourish in collaboration with his colleagues in the MassGeneral Institute for Neurodegenerative Disease (MIND), the largest hospital-based research program in the U.S., the Whitehead Institute, the Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Boston University School of Medicine, and the Berenson-Allen Center for Noninvasive Brain Stimulation at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Through these collaborative investigations, experts in many inter-related fields are providing new insights into and new treatments for a broad range of diseases such as ALS, Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s and Parkinson’s as well as the cerebellar ataxias and neuropsychiatric illnesses that have a link to cerebellum, such as autism and schizophrenia.
” The vagaries of the grant application processes, the specific and changing agendas of the different funding agencies, the restrictive nature of the funding mechanisms and the protracted timelines involved in securing this support all limit our ability to pursue vital research. Your philanthropic investment is important because it bypasses these restrictions and will more quickly allow us to secure the long term stability and overall success of this research program… The extent to which our vision can be achieved will be directly related to the financial support available. The ideas and the technology are already in place, but the speed and scope of the work can be fueled only by the available research dollars.”
– Jeremy D. Schmahmann, MD
