WASHINGTON, Jan. 2 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The 2008 Omnibus Budget,
signed by President George Bush on Monday, includes $1,860,000 for the CDC
Fragile X Public Health Initiative, more than double the current program
funding level. Also included in the bill are Congressional directives to
the NIH to fund translational research and commence drug trials of
promising new therapies.
"Congress has acknowledged the importance of Fragile X research to
unlocking the secrets of Autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders,"
said Jeffrey Cohen, past president, The National Fragile X Foundation
(NFXF). "This will accelerate the pace of research toward improved
treatments leading to an ultimate cure, increase awareness and make more
services available to more families impacted by Fragile X."
Fragile X Syndrome is the most common cause of inherited cognitive
impairment and the most common known cause of autism. As many as 1 in 130
women may carry the Fragile X gene premutation. Nearly 1.5 million
Americans are impacted by the condition in its various forms.
The funding increases signed into law by the President came about as a
result of grass roots advocacy by families touched by Fragile X who each
year travel to Washington for a NFXF sponsored Advocacy Day. "Funding for
many genetic conditions experienced significant cuts, but Fragile X funding
was increased," said Randi Hagerman, medical director, MIND Institute, and
director, Fragile X Research and Treatment Center, University of
California, Davis. "Families spoke out and Congress responded, that's the
way the system should work." Earlier this year a team led by Hagerman and
her husband Paul, also a researcher at UC Davis, was awarded a record
breaking $21.8 million by the NIH to study Fragile X and FXTAS (pronounced
fax-tas), a related neurodegenerative disorder first identified by the
Hagerman team that has features of both Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.
A dedicated group of parents and professionals established the National
Fragile X Foundation in 1984. Today, the organization seeks to unite the
Fragile X community, to enrich lives through educational and emotional
support, to promote public and professional awareness, and to advance
research toward improved treatments and a cure for Fragile X syndrome.
Visit fragilex.org for more information.
SOURCE The National Fragile X Foundation
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Related links:
http://www.fragilex.org
CONTACT:
Jeffrey Cohen of The National Fragile X
Foundation, +1-313-806-1190, j.cohen@fragilex.org
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