Childhood Neurotherapeutics

Center of Economic Excellence

Inception

2006

Award Amount

$5 million

Extramural Research Funding

$10.8 million

University Partners

Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC)
University of South Carolina

Private Sector Partner

Multiple Industry Partners

The Childhood Neurotherapeutics Center uses recent advances in pharmacogenetics, metabolic disorders, and neuroinflammatory diseases to study neurological disorders in children. Research at this Center is focused on preventing brain damage in premature infants (neuroprotection) and curing infant brain diseases through cellular engineering.

In collaboration with the Greenville Hospital System, the Center operates a statewide team that is developing neural stem cell therapeutic approaches to neurological disorders in children. Neural stem cells have recently been identified as having high repair capacity, particularly during development. This important scientific discovery will allow the Center to contribute to the treatment of these disorders and to transfer research knowledge directly to patient application.

This Center shares an FDA grant with the Philadelphia Children’s Hospital to evaluate the efficacy of atorvastatin for Type I diabetes patients. These studies have resulted in a start-up company, ImmunoMod, which develops drugs for treatment of diabetes.