Wishes Granted

Oct 24, 2019 at 10:11 am by Staff

Catie Chang, PhD, MS, Dario Englot, MD, PhD, and colleagues are studying brain networks related to cognitive deficits in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy. (photo by Joe Howell)

Cumberland Pharmaceuticals Inc. recently announced FDA Orphan Drug Grant funding for a new Phase II clinical program. The company has initiated the clinical development of ifetroban for the treatment of cardiomyopathy associated with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD). Based on pre-clinical findings, the FDA has cleared Cumberland's application to study ifetroban in DMD patients, ages seven and older. In addition, Cumberland has been awarded just over $1 million in funding from the FDA through their Orphan Drug Grant program to support a Phase II DMD clinical study. It's the first DMD clinical study approved for FDA Orphan Product Development funding.

A Vanderbilt team led by a neurosurgeon-scientist and an engineering professor who specialize in techniques for analyzing functional neuroimaging data has received a $3 million basic research grant (R01) from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study disturbances in brain networks related to attention lapses and cognitive deficits in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). Dario Englot, MD, PhD, assistant professor of Neurological Surgery and Electrical Engineering, Radiology and Radiological Sciences and Biomedical Engineering, and Catie Chang, PhD, MS, assistant professor of Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering and Biomedical Engineering, hope understanding these brain network problems may lead to new surgical or behavioral interventions to improve the quality of life for epilepsy patients.

Sections: Grand Rounds