University of California Davis School of Medicine will receive $1.6 million in federal stimulus funding for six ongoing research projects at its Sacramento campus, Congresswoman Doris Matsui said Tuesday. The grants are authorized by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to support university research in cooperation with the National Institutes of Health.
One of the UC Davis programs that will receive $615,000 is a study of alternative therapies for Parkinson’s disease by identifying new therapeutic targets in the brain, UCD Scientist Elizabeth Disbrow said. Current therapies for Parkinson’s disease do not include the evaluation and treatment of the cognitive deficits that affect motor skills, but Disbrow and a team of researchers are using brain imaging techniques to identify abnormal brain function related to deficits in motor planning in Parkinson’s disease.
The five additional grants support research at UC Davis School of Medicine include research into cancer, viral infection and traumatic brain injuries.