National Ataxia Foundation Incorporated

The National Ataxia Foundation offers patient education, advocacy, and support programs to improve the lives of those living with Ataxia. NAF's patient education program provides an annual conference, webinars, and fact sheets to help individuals manage their health and quality of life. NAF's advocacy program involves policy makers and pharmaceutical companies to grow awareness of Ataxia, accelerate drug development and ensure access to care and treatment services. NAF's support group program offers a way for the Ataxia community to connect and learn from others.

Funding for several of NAF's other key clinical research programs are provided through the NAF Drug Development Collaborative (DDC). The DDC is a pre-competitive pharmaceutical industry consortium with a principal goal of accelerating the development of treatments for ataxia. The Collaborative provides a centralized source for access to resources needed to support research and development of Ataxia therapies. Specific objectives of the Collaborative include natural history and bio sample data collection, development of biomarkers, validation of rating scales, clinical trial design, patient-reported outcomes, and other data necessary for the development and approval of safe and effective therapies. Two significant programs that are largely sponsored by the DDC include:1. No-cost Genetic Counseling and Testing Initiative: This program provides virtual genetic counseling and testing for individuals at-risk for three of the most common dominant ataxias to members at no-cost to participants. The aim of this program is to help individuals overcome barriers that have historically inhibited wide-spread genetic testing as well as support drug development through expanding the patient population eligible for future clinical trials.2. Clinical Research Consortium for the Study of Cerebellar Ataxia (CRC-SCA) Natural History Study: The CRC-SCA is one of the longest running and largest natural history studies of spinocerebellar ataxias (SCAs). A natural history study collects data that shows how a specific disease progresses in individuals over time. Natural history studies are essential for developing clinical trial designs that will facilitate drug development. There are over 300 patients enrolled at 16 CRC-SCA sites in the US and Canada. During annual visits, site investigators collect critical clinical data to aid in understanding disease progression and help guide future clinical trial design. Biofluids, such as plasma, serum, and cerebrospinal fluid, are also collected from patients and stored at the NINDS SCA-BRAC biorepository. Both deidentified clinical data and biofluids are available for request from non-participating investigators for approved research projects.

NAF is committed to funding cutting-edge basic and translational research into hereditary and sporadic ataxia. The goals of NAF's research program are to further elucidate the disease mechanisms of ataxias, bring early-career clinicians and scientists into ataxia research, and help drive the field towards developing treatments and a cure for ataxia. Annual grants are selected through a competitive review process that includes NAF's Medical and Research Advisory Board members and over 80 leading ataxia scientists and clinicians, both domestic and international. Each year NAF awards grants to researchers from domestic and international non-profit and for-profit institutions that directly support basic and translational ataxia research through the following funding mechanisms:1. Pioneer SCA3 Translational Research Awards: Annually granted to outstanding research proposals that aim to make significant advancements in the development of treatments and/or improvements to patient care for Spinocerebellar Ataxia Type 3 (SCA3). Proposals may incorporate other forms of ataxia but must have a predominant focus on SCA3 translational or clinical research. 2. Seed Money Research Grant: Granted primarily as "seed monies" to assist investigators in the early or pilot phase of their studies and as additional support for ongoing investigations on demonstration of need. It is hoped that these studies will be further developed to attract future funding from other sources. 3. Post-doctoral Fellowship Award: Post-doctoral fellowship awards are to serve as a bridge from post-doctoral positions to junior faculty positions. Applicants should have completed at least one year of post-doctoral training, but not more than two at the time of application and should have shown a commitment to research in the field of ataxia. The award will permit individuals to spend an additional third year in a post-doctoral position and increase chances to establish an independent ataxia research program.4. Early Career Investigator Award: The Early Career Investigator Award was created to encourage early career clinical and scientific investigators to pursue a career in the field of ataxia research. 5. Pre-doctoral Fellowship to Promote Diversity in Ataxia Research: Merit-based award intended to enhance research and/or clinical training of promising graduate students from historically underrepresented backgrounds who are matriculated in pre-doctoral or clinical health professional degree training programs and who intend careers as scientists or other clinician-scientists within the field of ataxia. 6. National Ataxia Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship: The National Ataxia Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship is a competitive, non-renewable, merit-based award intended to encourage pre-doctoral students to pursue research and a career in the field of ataxia. 7. NAF Special Grants: Based on the emergent needs of the patient and research community, priority areas of ataxia research may be identified as eligible for specialized grant funding by NAF and may be awarded outside of the annual grant programs. In addition to NAF annual grants, NAF sponsors several clinical research programs that aim to drive advancements in the ataxia research field and prepare the ataxia community for future clinical trials. One of these programs is the Ataxia Tissue and Brain Donation Program. NAF and the University of Florida's Center for NeuroGenetics (CNG) work together to maintain a repository of brain and spinal cord tissue from ataxia donors. This tissue is available to SCA researchers to help advance our understanding of these diseases and to develop new therapies. NAF sponsors both the costs of tissue donation and maintenance costs of the brain and tissue bank.