Project Grant RM1NS138808

The Regents of the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) has been awarded a $2,066,102 Project Grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) under the Extramural Research Programs in the Neurosciences and Neurological Disorders (CFDA 93.853) program. This 5-year grant, with an award date of December 15, 2024 and ultimate completion date of November 30, 2029, supports UCSF's efforts to develop an approach for discovering autoantibodies directed at cell surface antigens that may be directly pathogenic in autoimmune neurological diseases. The project aims to characterize the specificity of these autoantibodies, generate recombinant human monoclonal antibodies, and pursue novel treatments like neutralizing antibodies, CAAR-T cells, T-cell engagers, and NK-cell engagers to target the autoantibody-producing B cells. As a proof-of-concept, the researchers will investigate a new autoantibody-dependent neuroinflammatory syndrome.