2015 Research Grant Opportunity

Made possible by Team NTSAD, National Tay-Sachs & Allied Diseases Association (NTSAD), 

and the Orphan Disease Center at PennMedicine

The 2015 Million Dollar Bike Ride Pilot Grant Program is now open. 

One $43,000 pilot grant is available focusing on forms of Tay-Sachs, Sandhoff, GM-1, or Canavan disease. We are soliciting proposals for innovative research projects that involve basic research, translational studies or clinical studies relevant to the diseases mentioned above.  Projects may be focused on (1) technology approaches such as stem cells, molecular chaperones, substrate inhibitors, small molecule drug screening, gene therapy, novel drug delivery to the brain or on (2) other pre-clinical and clinical research needs, such as clinical outcome measures, registries, animal models, or biomarkers. 

This grant is made possible by Team NTSAD, the National Tay-Sachs & Allied Diseases Association, and the Orphan Disease Center at PennMedicine.

Please first review the RFA guidelines before submitting your pre-application using the web form below.  All pre-application submissions are due

Monday, September 14, 2015 by 5:00 pm (EST).  If your pre-application is approved, you will be notified with an invitation to submit a full-application, due October 19, 2015.

For questions regarding this pilot grant program, please contact Samantha Charleston at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., or (215) 573-6822.

Click here to view the 2015 MDBR Pilot Grant RFA Guidelines: 2015 MDBR Pilot Grant RFA Guidelines

Click here to submit your pre-application: 2015 MDBR Pre-Application

Last year's Million Dollar Bike Ride Grant recipient was Dr. Annette Bley, a pediatrician from Germany. She was awarded a grant to study the natural history of Canavan disease (CD). This work will allow Dr. Bley and others to learn more about the natural course of CD and to develop quantifiable measures of the disease.