The studies are the latest beneficiaries of the charity's annual research funding program, which supports the most promising and innovative research into the diagnosis and treatment of mitochondrial diseases.
Announcing the funding, Alison Maguire, Head of Research and Finance at The Lily Foundation, said: "We received a number of applications in response to our 2017-2018 research call. All were viable, high quality projects, which is an encouraging sign of the progress being made in the field of mitochondrial disease research. As a charity whose long-term aim is to find a cure for mitochondrial disease we are excited to be backing these three excellent projects, which we are confident will lead to better treatments being made available to affected families. We also take this opportunity to thank our all Lily families and supporters, whose incredible fundraising efforts and generous donations have helped to make this possible."
The three successful applicants are all UK-based research teams, chosen via a rigorous selection process and approved by an independent international review board. The projects are:
- Developing Therapeutic Strategies for RRM2B Mitochondrial Depletion Syndrome – A collaboration between Dr Grainne Gorman, Dr Bobby McFarland and Dr Rob Taylor (Wellcome Trust Centre of Mitochondrial Research, Newcastle), Dr Youcef Mehellou (Cardiff University) and Dr Caterina Garone (MRC Mitochondrial Biology Unit, Cambridge).
- Enzyme Replacement Therapy for MNGIE – Dr Bridget Bax (St George's, University of London).
- Preventing Mitochondrial Cardiomyopathy: Developing Novel Means of Intervention – Dr Christopher Carroll (St George's, University of London).
Announcement of the new funding brings The Lily Foundation's total investment in research to over £1.4m since the mitochondrial disease charity was launched in 2007.
For more information about The Lily Foundation's research projects click here.