Two winners of the Innovative Therapies for Hereditary Ataxias competition at UdeM

Éric Lécuyer and Pascal Chartrand, professors in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine at UdeM's Faculty of Medicine and researchers at the Institut de recherches cliniques de Montréal (IRCM), are among the winners of the Innovative Therapies for Hereditary Ataxias competition organized by Génome Québec, Ataxie Canada and Muscular Dystrophy Canada.

This funding will enable innovative experimental approaches to be deployed to characterize the impact of mutations causing three different types of cerebellar ataxia, which lead to the production, by the cells of affected patients, of abnormal RNAs containing aberrant nucleotide repeats.

“’By better understanding the impact of these abnormal RNAs on cellular functions, this project could lead to the development of new therapeutic avenues for treating these diseases," explained Dr. Eric Lécuyer.

This competition serves, in part, the third axis of Quebec's action plan on rare diseases, which is "Promoting research, innovation and data collection,” by promoting basic and translational research.

Poorly Understood Diseases

Ataxias, also known as cerebellar syndromes, are a group of neurodegenerative pathologies of the cerebellum and/or brainstem, resulting in disorders of balance, of voluntary movements coordination without muscular weakness, as well as ocular involvement.