Support

How funding supports research
Medical research is intrinsically expensive, with the major portion of the research budget for personnel typically exceeding 80% of the total research budget. Research is also generally modular; that is, a specific research effort (for example, identification of a specific therapeutic target for FXTAS) may involve several researchers (~$50,000/yr per researcher) who consume research materials (~$20,000/yr per researcher). Therefore, for a laboratory with 10-15 people, the annual research need may exceed $1M.

Current federal funding includes grants from the National Institutes of Health (Child Health), and from the Department of Defense - all for fragile X-related research.

Private funding has been graciously provided by many families and individuals whose lives have been touched by the fragile X-associated disorders: fragile X syndrome, FXTAS, FXPOI, and the additional difficulties encountered by children and adults with premutation forms of the gene. Such funding is critical for the most innovative research.

Private gift funding is generally the most powerful source of research dollars, since it can be used to pursue new discoveries or innovations on a much more rapid time scale than is possible with federal research dollars. In the Hagerman lab, private funds are not used for faculty salaries, for transportation, or for any expenses not directly related to the research effort.

- Private funds led to our discovery of the elevated FMR1 mRNA levels that form the basis of FXTAS, and likely the other premutation-associated disorders.

- Over the past decade, private funds have driven numerous discoveries in FXTAS research that provide the necessary preliminary results for successfully competing for NIH funding.

- Our current efforts to increase FMRP expression, and to reduce RNA toxicity in FXTAS, are currently driven in large part by private funds.

Donations are gratefully accepted through the MIND Institute – If you are interested in donating to the Hagerman Lab’s fragile-X related efforts, please contact the Office of University Development to discuss giving options. Please specify that you want to support Dr. Paul Hagerman’s research at the MIND Institute.

Phone: (530) 754-GIFT (4438)

Email: development@ucdavis.edu