Awarded Grants

The Amyloidosis Foundation is a non profit 501(c) (3) corporation and is an approved Charitable
Trust. In addition to our mission statement, the foundation is dedicated to all who have passed on
from amyloid, amyloid sufferers, their caregivers and family members; and also to the researchers
that are looking for the cure.

 

Senior Research Grant

Raymond Q. Migrino, MD - Phoeniz VA
"Mechanisms and treatment of AL light chain human
microvascular toxicity"
Light chain amyloidosis is an often fatal disease and it is caused
by the production and deposition of abnormal immunoglobulin
light chain proteins in various organs such as the heart, blood vessels, and kidneys, gut and liver. The cause of injury to various organs by the light chain proteins remains unknown. The project will determine the underlying basis of small vessel injury induced by exposure of isolated human blood vessels from fat tissue to light chain proteins. The project will also test if apoliprotein A1 or clusterin, two promising agents, will protect the blood vessels from injury induced by light chain proteins. We will also begin testing methods to improve the delivery of these apolipoproteins by using gold nanoparticles as special delivery vehicles to tissues to reduce the toxic effects of the light chain proteins to tissues.

 

Junior Research Grants

George Murphy, Ph D - Boston Medical Center
"Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Modeling of Human Hereditary Amyloidosis"
This project will generate a new form of stem cells that start out as skin or blood cells but are then reprogrammed into cells that have the ability to become any type of tissue in the body. These stem cells will be utilized to study a genetic disease through the directed differentiation of these cells in vitro in order to recapitulate the outcome of the disease. Possible benefits of this research are new ways to study treatments for genetic diseases such as familial amyloidosis..