The Japanese government agreed to contribute $10million over five years to support research into musculardystrophy, Huntington's disease and other neuromusculardisorders at the University of Ottawa in Canada.

The funding from the Research Development Corporationof Japan, which is that country's public grantorganization, will assist a scientific team headed by Joh-EIkeda, of Tokhai University in Japan, and RobertKorneluk, of the University of Ottawa.

The $10 million in Japanese government financing plussupport from the University of Ottawa, Children'sHospital of Eastern Ontario and the Medical ResearchCouncil of Toronto, bring the total investment in theproject to $20 million.

The Canadian Genetic Diseases Network assisted inorganization of the two countries' cooperative venture.The network, headquartered at the University of BritishColumbia in Vancouver, consists of 38 Canadiangeneticists at 12 universities, nine hospitals and 10laboratories throughout the country.

Both Ikeda and Korneluk are members of the network andthe project grew out of an earlier collaboration betweenthe two scientists.

The alliance of Japanese and Canadian researchers willfocus on specific genetic mechanisms of neuromusculardiseases, particularly the roles of mutation and apoptosis(programmed cell death) in neurodegeneration. _Charles Craig

(c) 1997 American Health Consultants. All rights reserved.