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Grant Applications are no longer being accepted for the 2009/2010 year.

POTENTIAL APPLICANTS PLEASE NOTE:  If you have never received funding from the APMRF, please submit electronically a Letter of Intent as outlined below. This procedure will allow our Scientific Advisory Board to read a brief summary of your proposed research without you having to submit the full grant application.

Please have this letter addressed to the APMRF Scientific Advisory Board to the Foundation office by February 13, 2009. Send the Letter of Intent as an ATTACHMENT to Susan McDonald at smcdonald@parseghian.org

Our SAB will review all Letters of Intent. You will be notified by April 1 whether or not the SAB would like for you to submit the full grant application for consideration of funding. The full grant applications are due no later than May 7, 2009.

The Letter of Intent should not exceed 2 pages of text (12 font single spaced) and must include the following information in this order:

1. Your name, position, title, institution, address, phone and E-mail address
2. Title of proposed research study
3. The objective of the study and hypothesis to be tested
4. The relevance to Niemann-Pick Type C disease (an extensive literature review is not required)
5. Preliminary data (this is encouraged but not essential)
6. A statement of the methods to be used and a brief description of how the results will be evaluated
7. Estimated amount of award you are requesting and whether for a one- or two-year period
8. Current financial support: List each current grant or contract you have that would overlap with the conduct of this research and how this overlap will be accommodated if APMRF funding is awarded. If there are no such grants, state “NONE”

If you have questions or comments on the Letter of Intent, please contact Peg Romano at (520) 577-5106 or promano@parseghian.org

PREVIOUSLY APMRF-FUNDED RESEACHERS: If you are currently funded and/or have been previously funded by the APMRF (at any time in the past) and are seeking funding again, please complete and submit the full grant application by May 7, 2009.

The Ara Parseghian Medical Research Foundation announces an unrestricted request for applications (RFA) directed toward understanding the cause and/or developing a treatment for Niemann-Pick Type C (NPC) disease. NPC is an autosomal recessive neurological storage disease. The gene responsible for NPC disease (NPC1) was isolated in 1997, and NPC2 in 2000.

Yeast, fly, worm, cat and mouse homologues have been identified. NPC1 mutant mice are available through Jackson Laboratories and human NPC1 and NPC2 mutant cell lines as well as a small bank of NPC1 human tissues are available. Preliminary characterization of the NPC1 gene product suggests that it is a membrane-bound protein involved in vesicular trafficking of sterols, sphingolipids and other metabolites.

The Foundation will fund meritorious research proposals for up to a two-year period (renewable thereafter), at a maximum of $100,000/year, excluding salary support for the Principal Investigator. Targeted areas of emphasis include:

1. Novel therapeutic approaches for NPC disease including: Identification of bioactive compounds and characterization of cell-based therapeutic strategies. Identification of surrogate endpoints that correlate with NPC disease progression including neurophysiological testing and/or genomics/proteomics approaches.


2. Neurobiology of NPC disease: Determination of the molecular pathogenesis of NPC disease in the CNS with particular emphasis on defining the function of the NPC1 and NPC2 proteins in the CNS.


3. Cell Biology of the NPC1 and NPC2 proteins including variants: Elucidation of the intracellular function(s) of the NPC1 and NPC2 proteins with particular emphasis on fully characterizing the role of these proteins in vesicular trafficking and intracellular signaling.

The application deadline is: May 7, 2009 with funding to begin July 1, 2009. For more information please contact: Ara Parseghian Medical Research Foundation, 3530 East Campo Abierto, Suite 105, Tucson, AZ 85718. Telephone: 520 577-5106; FAX: 520 577-5212.

For more information on grants administration, instructions and to download the grant application, please see the top left side bar on this page.  Thank you.

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