- Professor Bradley Turner and Dr Samantha Barton from The Florey have been awarded grants as part of FightMND’s latest $22.9m funding round
- Their respective projects will help accelerate research into the understanding of motor neurone disease (MND) and the next generation of drug treatment
- Professor Turner’s project will focus on developing next generation APC mimic peptides as a therapeutic approach for MND
- Dr Barton’s project will use iPSC-derived organoids to understand TDP-43 pathology
Innovative projects at The Florey supported by FightMND funding
Florey researchers, Professor Bradley Turner and Dr Samantha Barton, were awarded significant grants from FightMND. This funding will support their research in investigating drug development and disease models for motor neurone disease.
Over the past few years, FightMND has proudly invested in MND research at The Florey to drive progress and improve the lives of people living with this neurodegenerative disease.
Bolstering MND patient pathways
Professor Bradley Turner is the Head of The Florey’s Motor Neurone Disease group. His research project will focus on the the development of next-generation APC mimic peptides as a therapeutic approach of MND. Supported by a $547,962 grant towards drug discovery, this project will test the suitability of a drug that not only targets multiple aspects of the disease but is low cost and easy to manufacture.
“I am honoured to be a recipient of FightMND’s Cure & Care Investment grants. The overall intent is to further enable discovery and development of drugs targeting key parts of the body affected by MND.
My work at The Florey will be bolstered by this grant opportunity – our overall aim is to enhance hope and ultimate outcomes for those living with MND,” said Professor Turner.
Unlocking big answers with mini-brains
Dr Samantha Barton is the Head of The Florey’s Myelin in Health and Disease group. As a recipient of a 2025 FightMND Impact Grant, Dr Barton was awarded $299,965 to investigate how MND affects not just the motor neurones, but many other cells which serve to support healthy motor neurone function.
This project will use patient-derived cells to model these supporting cell types to understand how disease pathways, such as TDP43, spread between motor neurones and other cells.
“This is a strong collaboration between The Florey and the University of Sydney that utilises world leading stem cell and mouse modelling expertise. We will establish a model system that can be extrapolated to many experimental questions so will be an invaluable resource for the MND scientific community,” said Dr Barton.
Stronger together
FightMND is changing the future for people with MND with a key focus on funding world-class research, and The Florey is committed to supporting these efforts.
MND as a neurodegenerative disease is a research priority for The Florey, primarily focusing on understanding the molecular basis of MND, also called amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), to inform rational drug development for treatment.
