Nemours Children's Health Receives Prestigious National Institutes of Health Award for Groundbreaking Research in Neurological Disorders

Strategic Insights -

Rodney Scott, MBChB, MRCP, DipStat, PhD, Division Chief of Neurology at Nemours Children's Health, Delaware Valley, has been awarded a $2.6 million, five-year grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to investigate malfunctions in the brain's hippocampal region. This research aims to identify patterns that could lead to shared therapies for patients with autism, epilepsy, and Alzheimer's disease. Dr. Scott's team will analyze patterns of dysfunction in the hippocampus, a region that regulates memory and emotions, and develop novel methods of brain stimulation to restore healthy hippocampal function.

Key Takeaways:

  • Nemours Children's Health has received a $2.6 million, five-year grant from the NIH to support research on malfunctions in the brain's hippocampal region.
  • The research aims to identify patterns that could lead to shared therapies for patients with autism, epilepsy, and Alzheimer's disease.
  • Dr. Rodney Scott, Division Chief of Neurology at Nemours Children's Health, is the lead investigator on the project.
  • The research team will analyze patterns of dysfunction in the hippocampus, which regulates memory and emotions.
  • The project will involve collaboration between Nemours Children's Health and the Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor, Maine.
  • The research has the potential to develop novel methods of brain stimulation to restore healthy hippocampal function.
  • Dr. Scott's team will collect biological data, while his co-principal investigator, Matt Mahoney, PhD, will lead the effort to develop mathematical models.
  • The research is based on the theory that autism, epilepsy, and Alzheimer's may share the same faulty mechanism, specifically a disruption in the brain's neural networks.

Statistics:

  • The NIH Transformative Research Award is a high-risk, high-reward grant program that supports cross-cutting, interdisciplinary approaches.
  • The grant awarded to Dr. Scott's team is $2.6 million over a five-year period.
  • The research aims to analyze a high volume of data and potentially accelerate the pace of discovery.

Sources:

  • Nemours Children's Health press release
  • National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director's Transformative Research Award
  • Rodney Scott, MBChB, MRCP, DipStat, PhD, Division Chief of Neurology, Nemours Children's Health