IETF Funded Research

2011

Brain Biochemistry in Patients with ET
Researcher Dr. Holly Shill, Director of the Christopher Center for Parkinson Research at Sun Health Research Institute, recently published the article �Brain Biochemistry in Autopsied Patients with Essential Tremor� in Movement Disorders. This study builds on previous research funded by the IETF. Read more.

Researchers Identify Potential Cause of ET
Researchers from the CHUQ research center and Université-Laval have published promising findings about a potential cause of essential tremor (ET). The team's findings were published in a recent edition of the scientific journal Brain. The research team noticed a decrease in the concentration of GABA receptors in the cerebellum of patients suffering from ET. Read more.

LINGO-1 and LINGO-2 Gene Study
A new study by the Banner Sun Health Research Institute examines Neuropathological and Biochemical Substrates for Essential Tremor. Dr. Holly Shill, Director, Cleo Roberts Center for Clinical Research, Christopher Center for Parkinson Research, leads the study which is funded by the IETF. The cause of essential tremor (ET) is unknown but recent findings have shown genetic links to the genes LINGO-1 and LINGO-2. Read more.

IETF Grant-Funded Study Sheds Light on Drugs� Potential for Tremor Suppression
A study by Dr. Adrian Handforth and Dr. Arnulfo Quesada has yielded notable results with a potential focus for essential tremor (ET) drug treatment. Funded by a grant from the IETF, the study concerns the impact of five drugs in blocking T-type calcium channels and suppressing tremor in two different models when tested on mice. Drawing from their IETF-supported work, the scientists produced three papers, one of which was published in 2008 in Drug Metabolism and Disposition and another published in 2010 in Neuropharmacology. The third paper has been accepted for publication in the European Journal of Pharmacology. Read more.

Chicago Bears Placekicker Robbie Gould Joins Fight Against ET

The IETF is proud to announce a partnership with Chicago Bears placekicker Robbie Gould, and his Goulden Touch Foundation, to raise funds for ET research and to support services for the more than 10 million Americans affected by ET.

2009 - IETF and the Goulden Touch Foundation award $75,000 in research grants to two projects studying GABA mechanisms in ET.
Dr. Charles Handforth, Veterans Administration Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, Los Angeles, CA, was awarded $50.000 for the study Towards the Identification of the Anti-Tremor Target of Low-Dose Alcohol.

A $25,000 grant was awarded to Dr. Frederic Calon, Centre de recherché du CHUL, Quebec, Canada for the study GABAergic Abnormalities in the Deep Cerebellar Nuclei of Essential Tremor Patients: Postmortem Investigations.

Mark Hallett, MD, chair of the IETF Medical Advisory Board says, �GABA mechanisms seem important in essential tremor pathogenesis and therapy, and these two grants should be helpful and complementary in moving our knowledge of essential tremor to a new level.�

2008 - IETF Awards $66,000 to Two Research Projects
Holly Shill, MD, Director, Thomas H. Christopher Center for Parkinson�s Research, Sun City, AZ, has been awarded $36,000 for the study, �Brain Catecholamine System in Essential Tremor.�

Fatta Nahab, MD, assistant professor of neurology, Department of Neurology, University of Miami, Miami, Fl has been awarded $25,000 for the study, Identification of the Neural Generator(s) in Essential Tremor using Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging.

Preliminary Findings

2007 - IETF awards $50,000 to study Neural Correlates in ET and Neurochemical
Alteration in ET Patients
Dr. Khalaf Bushara, assistant professor of neurology at the Minneapolis Veteran�s Administration Medical Center, will receive $25,000 for a project titled �Neural Correlates of Essential Tremor.�

Dr. Frederic Calon, assistant professor, Molecular Endocrinology and Oncology Research Center at Laval University Medical Center, Quebec City, Canada, will receive $25,000 for a project titled Postmortem Neurochemical Alteration in Essential Tremor Patients: A
Clinicopathologic Study of Essential Tremor. Findings

2006 - IETF awards $20,000 on Worldwide Conference to Identify ET Research Goals

Findings extracted from the Executive Summary prepared by Rodger J. Elble, MD.

2005 - $50,000 Research Grant Study Identified Two Genes Possibly Involved in Familia ET
Dr. Joseph J. Higgins at the Center for Human Genetics and Child Neurology at the Mid-Hudson Family Health Institute in New Paltz, New York. Funding provided through a grant from the W. Carroll Beatty and Thelma D. Beatty Bequest. Findings

2004 - IETF awards $26,000 in additional funding for ET Centralized Brain repository - Findings

2003 - IETF Awards $70,000 in Research Funding to Study the Neuropathology
of ET in Support of the ET Centralized Brain repository

Report by Elan D. Louis, MD, MSc
Lead researcher, ET Centralized Brain Repository and Associate Professor of Neurology, Columbia University, New York City, New York

2001 - IETF awards a $20,000 grant to study quality of life in ET

Findings of this research were presented at the Eighth International Congress of Parkinson Disease and Movement Disorders, Rome, Italy, June 14-17, 2004. Validation of the Quality of Life in Essential Tremor Questionnaire (QUEST)
A. Troster, R. Pawha, C. M. Tanner, K.E. Lyons
P1185 page S405

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