McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine affiliated faculty member Robert Bowser, PhD— Chairman of Neurobiology and a Professor of Neurology and Neurobiology at the Barrow Neurological Institute and St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix, Arizona, and the Director of the Gregory W. Fulton ALS and Neuromuscular Research Center at Barrow—is a co-principal investigator on one of seven research partnerships between Arizona biomedical scientists and clinicians that are being funded through a Flinn Foundation program to advance the state’s growing niche in precisiook sn medicine.
The title of Dr. Bowser’s 2-year project is “Identification of Biomarkers for Idiopathic CIDP, CIDP with MGUS and Diabetic CIDP.” Along with Dr. Bowser, Suraj Muley, MD, Barrow Neurological Institute, St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center, will co-lead the $100,000 effort.
The study will identify blood-based biomarkers that will enable early and effective treatments for people with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy, a neurological disorder, along with diabetics with CIDF. The disorder leads to progressive weakness and impaired sensory function in the legs and arms. While there is effective treatment if the disease is identified early, diagnosis can be difficult, especially if the patient is also diabetic.
The research projects are being supported through awards totaling $1 million under the Flinn Foundation’s Seed Grants to Promote Translational Research in Precision Medicine Initiative, which aims to translate lab findings and discoveries into patient care. The 2018 grants represent the fourth round of the initiative, awarded to institutions in northern, central, and southern Arizona.
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