Grant Update

BRC Innovation Grant Update

“Support from a BRC Innovation Grant allowed researchers to uncover new mechanisms that improve nerve–muscle communication in an ALS model.”

Support from a BRC Innovation Grant, awarded in 2025, enabled researchers in the Rafuse and Akay Labs to investigate how methoctramine improves neuromuscular communication in an ALS mouse model.

While the original hypothesis did not hold, the funding directly supported experiments that led to an important discovery: new mechanisms underlying the drug’s beneficial effects.

Electrophysiological studies revealed that methoctramine enhances synaptic function at both the pre‑ and postsynaptic levels, strengthening communication between motor neurons and muscles.

These findings advance the understanding of neuromuscular transmission in ALS and help inform future therapeutic strategies.

Watch this page for a publication/manuscript submission later this year.

The Innovation grant was awarded to Dr Turgay Akay in March 2025.