NephCure Foundation awards $1.6 million in research grants

BERWYN, Pa.--The NephCure Foundation has awarded more than $1.6 million to eight grant recipients for the 2008 NephCure Research Scientific Grant Program.

The Scientific Grant Program supports basic science research initiatives to understand the cause, identify treatments and find the cure for primary Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) and Nephrotic Syndrome.

The research grants are the result of The NephCure Foundation's first public request for proposal program and almost 30 percent of submissions were funded. NephCure has grown its fundraising revenue from $40,000 in 2003 to $1.6 million in 2007.

NephCure said it was a major advocate for the recently completed FSGS Clinical Trial, a five-year $15 million National Institutes of Health program studying the effect of various treatments on FSGS patients.

"This increased level of research funding is a huge part of our mission," said Dr. Lawrence Holzman of the University of Michigan and chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board for The NephCure Foundation.  "This is important work that would simply not be done without these grants.  Every research initiative is progress toward finding better treatments and cures for these diseases."

Nephrotic Syndrome and FSGS are conditions that affect the tiny filtering units (glomeruli) in the kidney. The result is that protein needed by the body is discarded into the urine. Over time, these conditions can result in renal failure and the need for dialysis or a kidney transplant. The primary cause for most forms of Nephrotic Syndrome and FSGS are not known and there is no cure.