José Baselga Research Fund Announces First-Ever Grant to Advance Prion Disease Research

The José Baselga Research Fund (JBRF), supported by Alexion, AstraZeneca Rare Disease, today announced the initiation of the Global José Baselga Research Grant (Baselga Grant), an annual $75,000 grant to advance the treatment of prion diseases, a group of rare progressive neurodegenerative disorders.

JBRF was created by the Baselga family in memory of Dr. José Baselga, a physician-scientist who dedicated his life to the advancement of cancer therapy before passing away two years ago today from Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD), an extremely rare, fatal neurodegenerative condition. The Baselga Grant will honor Jose’s legacy and support scientists in the pursuit of understanding, and eradicating, prion diseases such as CJD.

“Our family feels incredibly lucky to have had such an amazing father and husband for as long as we did, and we are committed to continuing his legacy of improving people’s lives through innovative medicines,” commented Clara Baselga-Garriga, daughter of José and student at Harvard Medical School. “We now join in his passion for scientific discovery and are grateful to be partnering with Alexion to support meaningful research for prion diseases on a global scale.”

Each year, the Baselga Grant will support one innovative project by an investigator conducting basic, translational, clinical, or population research. The project must have direct applicability and relevance to understanding the pathophysiology or other aspects of prion diseases, developing therapies, or mechanisms for earlier detection of prion disease. There are no geographic requirements for applicants.