Alex Coletta,  —

A revved-up campaign to persuade the U.S. government to ask states to screen newborns for spinal muscular atrophy will be a hallmark of this year’s SMA Conference in Orlando. The agenda includes a symposium to train what the conference’s organizers call spinal muscular atrophy champions to push for newborn screening in their…

One way Cure SMA’s Annual SMA Conference encourages collaboration among academics, industry executives, government officials and families is through its Family Friendly Poster Session – a yearly event in which researchers present their findings about spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) in an accessible format. Registration is now open for the annual conference,…

Cure SMA has awarded a $75,000 basic research grant to Dr. Stephen J. Kolb of Ohio State University (OSU) for a project that seeks a deeper understanding of motor neuron pathology in spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). The project, “Arrested Development or Neurodegeneration? An approach to understand developmental motor neuron pathology…

As part of a $1.03 million basic research funding initiative, Cure SMA has awarded a $75,000 grant to University of Missouri researcher Chris Lorson, PhD, for his investigation into the role of astrocytes, a specific type of brain cells, in lower motor neuron susceptibility in spinal muscular atrophy…

Cure SMA has announced two additional grants to its current round of basic funding for research into spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) — a move that will boost the organization’s budget for grants to $1.03 million this year. The investment, which follows growing support from families, researchers, pharmaceutical firms and regulatory partners,…

Dr. Jocelyn Côté, an RNA metabolism expert at the University of Ottawa, has received $140,000 in basic research funding from Cure SMA and Families of SMA Canada. Côté will investigate survival motor neuron (SMN) protein regulation for clues that could lead to new treatment approaches for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA).

Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a step closer to being on a list of diseases that the U.S. government recommends newborns be screened for. Although making the Recommended Uniform Screening Panel list will constitute a powerful statement of support for SMA screening, decisions about what diseases newborns are checked for are…

A new saliva-based screening test for the two most commonly inherited genetic disorders, cystic fibrosis (CF) and spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), is now available through Good Start Genetics, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The test, called VeriYou, costs less than $150. Because one in every 19 people are gene carriers for CF or SMA,…

Cure SMA has created a series of educational modules to address the topics, issues, and questions that are critical as the development of new drugs moves forward. The organization says a new stage has been reached in the efforts for U.S. FDA-approved treatments for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA),…

The 2016 SMA Researcher Meeting, the largest gathering specifically dedicated to spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), set a record with 350 attendees who discussed cutting-edge research and the future of SMA patients’ needs. The goal of the annual event, held this year in Anaheim, California, is to create an open forum for the…