Daniel Heumann Young Scientists Fund
Daniel Heumann is a member of the Board of Directors of the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation. During the past twenty-three years, Danny has raised millions of dollars for research to cure spinal cord injury, previously through a separate organization named the Daniel Heumann Fund for Spinal Cord Research and more recently through the Daniel Heumann Young Scientists Fund of the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation (DHYSF). This initiative within the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation’s Individual Research Grants (IRG) program helps ensure that the next generation of spinal cord researchers is being trained in the best environment by the best people and raises critically needed support and awareness to attract the best and brightest young scientists to the field of spinal cord injury research.
Donate to the Daniel Heumann Young Scientists Fund.
While the program accepts applications from established scientists and young investigators, the DHYSF specifically supports the research efforts of postdoctoral fellows who usually have completed their doctoral degrees within the last 5 years. Two-year postdoctoral fellowships are available with a maximum funding level of $60,000 per year, limited to a maximum of 10% overhead costs at the research institutions.
Postdoctoral applications are evaluated on three criteria:
- The applicant;
- The host laboratory and research environment; and
- The proposal’s scientific merit and relevance to the Foundation's goals.
Second-year funding is contingent upon successful review of a continuation application.
Each year, the Reeve Foundation receives approximately 300 applications for research support. The applications originate from the best universities and brightest minds. The application process is very competitive and currently about 10% of applicants receive funding from the Foundation. An award from the Foundation is a feather in the cap for any applicant and stands out on the curriculum vitae of our grantees.
Find out more about Reeve Foundation Individual Research Grants.
The following projects, all directed by postdoctoral fellows, were initiated in the past year:
Alilain, Warren Joseph, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, United States
$120,000.00, 2-year Grant
Functional regeneration and sprouting of respiratory pathways after spinal cord injury.
Respiratory failure and complications caused by the loss of normal breathing are the leading cause of death after an injury to the cervical spinal cord. Dr. Alilain, a postdoctoral fellow, studies a family of large molecules known as proteoglycans (CSPGs) that may interfere with the recovery of respiratory function after spinal cord trauma. functional recovery after an injury to the cervical spinal cord.
In this study, Dr. Alilain will test the affect of administering ChABC to rat models of high cervical spinal cord injuries. He will combine the treatment with each of several other therapies that have shown promise in restoring at least some diaphragm function. This study could lead to therapies to treat one of the most serious effects of high spinal cord injury: the inability to breathe normally.
Barnabé-Heider, Fanie, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
$118,500.00, 2-year Grant
Manipulation of endogenous fate-mapped stem cells in the injured spinal cord.
Scientists know that the adult spinal cord has pools of dormant neural stem cells that might one day serve as powerful self-repair kits following a spinal cord injury. However, it has not been easy to study these adult neural stem cells, or neural progenitors, because they are difficult to find. Dr. Barnabé-Heider reasons that if she can trace what happens to the daughter cells that evolve from the cells that seem to be neural progenitors, then she can tell if her preliminary identification is correct. This project could lead to the development of new therapies for humans that help the spinal cord to heal itself.
Frigon, Alain, University of Montreal, Montreal, QC, Canada
$92,000.00, 2-year Grant
Identifying spinal interneurons critical for locomotor recovery after spinal cord injury.
In the last decade, a rehabilitation routine known as locomotor training is helping some people with incomplete spinal cord injuries to regain limited ability to walk -- even though the brain can no longer receive and send messages from the lower body. This regimen conditions a portion of the spinal cord called the central pattern generator to take over the initiation of stepping when the brain can no longer do it. Inputs from hip and ankle muscles appear particularly important in the training because for someone to take a step, the hip must be in the right position and the amount of force on ankle muscles be reduced enough for the foot to flex and move.
Yet neuroscientists still do not know where this sensory feedback converges in the spinal cord. In this study, Dr. Frigon wants to find those target spinal neurons and learn how they function. Once the sensory feedback pathway and its mechanisms are understood, doctors might be able to use therapies like electrical stimulation or drugs to enhance the performance of these crucial neurons circuits. These treatments could be an important adjunct to locomotor training and other forms of rehabilitation.
Herrmann, Julia Elaine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, United States
$120,000.00, 2-year Grant
EphA4 in spinal cord injury and repair.
One reason that the spinal cord does not repair itself after an injury is that even when damaged neurons manage to sprout new axons, they cannot get past the scar that forms around the injured area. A protein that might be responsible for repelling new axons is EphA4. Understanding exactly how EphA4 works is a crucial first step in determining whether it may be a target for the treatment of spinal cord injuries.
Runko, Erik, University of Miami, Miami, FL, United States
$120,000.00, 2-year Grant
Eph receptors mediate apoptosis following spinal cord injury.
In the aftermath of a spinal cord injury, many surviving cells eventually die during the body's expended response to the trauma. A major cause of this second wave of destruction is apoptosis, a process in which cells "sense" that something is amiss and boot a suicide program that chops up their DNA. Oligodendrocytes, the insulating cells in the brain and spinal cord, are highly susceptible to apoptotic death. Their demise expands the scope of the injury and leads to a partial or complete loss of motor, sensory and possibly autonomic function.
In this study, Dr. Runko will test a novel approach to limiting apoptosis in oligodendroctye. These experiments are important steps toward future studies to examine the role of ephrinB3 in blocking oligodendrocyte death in primates and eventually people.
Streijger, Femke, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
$120,000.00, 2-year Grant
Dietary restriction for spinal cord injury.
High-caloric intravenous or tube feedings are part of the acute care of routinely given to people with new spinal cord injuries. This young researcher notes, however, that this practice has never been rigorously tested and patients may actually require far fewer calories because of inactivity and spinal shock. Dr. Streijger is part of a research group that has been testing an opposite approach: dietary restriction, in the form of every other day fasting (EODF).
In this project, Dr. Streijger will run a series of experiments she hopes will provide the data needed to move this promising approach into human clinical trials. If these experiments provide additional support for dietary restrictions, they could lead to a non-invasive, inexpensive, and highly effective treatment for acute spinal cord injuries.
Tester, Nicole J., University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States
$120,000.00, 2-year Grant
Interlimb Coordination during Walking Post-SCI.
Locomotor training usually entails intense daily sessions of treadmill stepping with patients supported in harnesses while their feet are moved in walking motions. Evidence is mounting, however, that if patients also swing their arms, then their training may be more effective.
Rhythmic upper limb motions appear to increase muscle activity in the legs and to influence the central pattern generators in the spinal cord, the circuitry that can be conditioned to control walking following a spinal cord injury. Yet few researchers have studied precisely how spinal cord injuries disrupt either arm swing or the coordination between arms and legs during walking. Nor do neuroscientists know whether these functions can be recovered.
Dr. Tester wants to create the first reliable measurement tools and baseline data that will enable rehabilitation experts to assess inter-limb coordination in people who have suffered spinal cord injuries and then measure the effects of therapy. Dr. Tester first will validate her approach by evaluating healthy subjects while they walk. Then she will use her assessment techniques to evaluate individuals with various types of spinal cord injuries. This project will provide valuable insights into the vulnerability of the inter-limb nerve circuitry and how different types of injuries affect outcomes. Her results could help clinicians develop novel rehabilitation therapies, some of which may incorporate arm swing and coordination to promote the recovery of walking.
About Danny Heumann
Danny was paralyzed in a car accident two weeks before he was to start his freshman year at Syracuse University. Since his accident, he received his undergraduate degree in 1991 in Television Radio Film Management from Syracuse University's famed Newhouse School of Communications. He received a law degree from American University in 1998. Danny is an advocate in both the private and public sector in raising awareness and money on behalf of the 50 million Americans who suffer from neurological disorders. Daniel lobbies at both state and federal levels for funding to help this segment of the population.
Danny believes that people with disabilities should be encouraged to participate in athletics. He is a wheelchair tennis player competing in USTA tournaments throughout the country, rides a handcycle over long distances, waterskis, snowskis and sails. To stay in shape, he lifts weights 3 times a week.
Danny's motto is "Ten percent of life is what happens to you. Ninety percent is how you handle it."
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