Anthony Filiano, PhD, an assistant professor in the Duke Department of Neurosurgery, has received a $375,000 grant from the Rosenau Family Research Foundation for a three-year project titled, “Immune Responses in Peripheral Nerves After Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplants for Krabbe.
There currently isn’t a cure for Krabbe disease, and the only available treatment is stem cell transplants. While stem cell transplants benefit the brain, the disease continues to progress in the peripheral nerves, which are important for movement. Why these nerves are resistant to stem cell transplants is unknown and remains a critical barrier for patients diagnosed with Krabbe disease to lead a healthy life. Filiano and his team are trying to understand what causes the resistance.
“This is a huge problem for these patients, and to my knowledge, it really hasn’t been addressed,” said Filiano, who is also an assistant professor in pathology and an assistant research professor in integrative immunobiology.
“The peripheral nerves continue to degenerate, even though the transplants have halted the degradation of the brain,” Filiano said. “This award will allow us, for the first time, to investigate why this is happening.”
Filiano hopes this research will eventually lead to new or improved therapies to help with peripheral nerve recovery and significantly improve the lives of patients with Krabbe disease.