The Ataxia Community Comes Together in Orlando April 9–11, 2026 for the Annual Ataxia Conference! LEARN MORE
What does a placebo mean? A placebo is a simulated substance that has no therapeutic effect or active ingredients. Often, a placebo looks, feels, and tastes like other therapies being tested in the clinical trial. What is the placebo effect, and why is it important? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RhG_ySxhDA Why are placebo-controlled trials Read More…
Author: Sue Hagen, Research Services Director I recently attended the virtual annual meeting of the Drug Information Association. I took in four days of sessions, all relating to topics of interest to all stakeholders involved in drug discovery and development. My head is still spinning! While you would think that Read More…
What is an Informed Consent Form (ICF)? Informed Consent Forms are important aspect of a clinical trial. An ICF is a document that provides a potential clinical trial participant information about the clinical trial and any risks there may be in participating. The goal behind the ICF is to present Read More…
NAF is committed to providing the resources to fund research needed to develop treatments and therapies for people with Ataxia. We fund research studies ranging from $35,000-$100,000 per study. We are accepting Letters of Intent for research grants through late September and early October on proposalCENTRAL. For more information visit www.ataxia.org/researcher-resources. If you Read More…
Guest Authors: Drs. Paulson, Ashizawa, and Öz Right now, it’s an exciting time in the Ataxia field. Many companies are working rapidly to bring therapies to the clinic for the Spinocerebellar Ataxias (SCAs). Unfortunately, however, we still need to know more about the natural history of SCA and relevant biomarkers Read More…
Author: Sue Hagen, Research Services Director In the 14 years that I have been on staff at the National Ataxia Foundation, I have heard many times that clinical trials for therapy development for Ataxia will start within the next 5 years. And I have seen the Ataxia community patiently and Read More…
Guest Author: Sam Kirton, NAF Board of Directors President Fighting Ataxia is a cause that is close to Sam Kirton’s heart. He lost several family members to the disease. He volunteers his time to help make sure that NAF continues to move boldly forward, championing efforts to accelerate development of Read More…
Guest Author: Sokol Todi, PhD; Wayne State University I have been attending the Ataxia Investigators Meeting for nearly a decade. I was a junior faculty at the time of my first participation. I had worked in the Ataxia field for a few years and was looking for a scientific family Read More…
At NAF, we support researchers in many ways, including our grant process. Research grants allow Ataxia investigators to request funding for their studies. Lay summaries are available below for the research grants we funded in 2021. $655,000 Funded Overall 13 Research Studies Funded Research Seed Money Grants Research Seed Money Read More…
NAF, along with Ataxia Global Initiative, and Ataxia UK, recently partnered with Critical Path Institute (C-Path) for the launch of their Critical Path to Therapeutics for the Ataxias (CPTA) Consortium. CPTA is a public-private partnership focused on accelerating the development of treatments for inherited Ataxias. The work of the Consortium will Read More…
