Foundation Funded Research

Congratulations to our 2024 Grant Recipients! 

The RLS Foundation has funded over $2 million to researchers looking for better treatments and a cure for RLS. Each year the number of grant requests increases, with a record number of participants in 2024.

The RLS Foundation Research Grant Program is only possible because of the generous donations from the RLS community. Consider making a donation to fund RLS research to find better treatments and a cure.

Ghorayeb

Dr. Imad Ghorayeb, MD, PhD

Dr. Ghorayeb completed his PhD at the University of Bordeaux in 2001. As a neurologist and sleep specialist, his primary interest was in the understanding of sleep disorders in neurodegenerative disease such as Parkinson’s disease (PD), multiple system atrophy (MSA) and familial fatal insomnia through a translational approach based on clinical investigation in patients and animal modeling of human disease. His basic research focused on generating animal models of MSA to understand sleep disorders in PD and the role of the dopaminergic depletion. RLS soon emerged as a novel and interesting field of his study because of its uncertain pathophysiology, in which dopamine appears to be a central actor. From animal models, Dr. Ghorayeb’s research shifted to the clinical aspects of the syndrome, and he has become a nationally recognized expert in RLS diagnosis and management

Imad Ghorayeb, MD, PhD: University of Bordeaux Functional connectivity of the interoceptive network in RLS: an anatomo-clinical prospective study. 

To learn more about the study, click here.

 

Koo

Dr. Brian Koo, MD

Dr. Koo is the director for the Yale Center for Restless Legs Syndrome, a certified RLS Quality Care Center; a member of the Foundation’s Scientific and Medical Advisory Board; and the medical director of the Sleep Laboratory at the Veterans Affairs Connecticut Healthcare System. He is an associate professor of neurology at Yale University and has been an active member of task forces and section committees related to the sleep-related movement disorders in the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. Dr. Koo is board certified in both neurology and sleep medicine, and much of his research lies in those categories. His research on RLS and periodic leg movements of sleep (PLMS) includes animal modeling, epidemiology, proteomics and genetic analysis

Brian Koo, MD: Yale University Cerebrospinal Fluid Melanocortin and Endorphin in Restless Legs Syndrome Related Augmentation

To learn more about this study, click here.

Additional Resources

RLS Foundation Research Grant Program

Since the grant program started in 1997, the RLS Foundation has funded over $2 million in grants to find a cure.

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Hochman

Dr. Shawn Hochman, PhD

Dr. Hochman is a Professor in the Department of Cell Biology in the School of Medicine at Emory University. Has a long history of studies on the physiological control of spinal functional systems and their plasticity, with a multisystem perspective on spinal cord functional systems. His broad research interest is in dysfunction in spinal sensorimotor integration (spinal cord injury, pain, autonomic dysreflexia, locomotor function and RLS). For the past 20 years, his studies have focused on neuromodulation-based plasticity focusing on the biogenic amine modulators serotonin, noradrenaline and dopamine. These transmitters have been linked to activation of the spinal cord circuitry generating locomotion, control of autonomic nervous system function, and the potent inhibition of spinal cord pain systems. Dysfunction in spinal dopamine is also implicated in the emergence of RLS. 

Shawn Hochman, PhD: Emory University Grant co-funded by AASM Foundation Sensory Dysfunction in a diet-induced iron-deficiency mouse model of RLS: Characterization and control of dopamine-sensitive spinal gating circuitry.

To learn more about this study, click here.

Manconi

Dr. Mauro Manconi, MD, PhD

Dr. Manconi is director of the Sleep Medicine Unit, Neurocenter of Southern Switzerland, a certified RLS Quality Care Center. He teaches as Professor at the Master School of Medicine at Bern University (UNIBER), and at the Biomedical School at Swiss University of Lugano (USI). Dr. Manconi's research focuses on sleep disorders, specifically sleep-related movement disorders such as RLS and PLMS, and he served on the scientific board of the European Restless Legs Syndrome Study Group (EURLSSG, and he is vice-president of the International RLS Study Group. On the RLS Foundation Scientific and Medical Advisory Board, Dr. Manconi is an active member of the Medical Bulletin, Revised Treatment Consensus and Quality Care Center Certification committees.

Mauro Manconi, MD, PhD: Ospedale Italiano di Lugano (EOC) Epidural Spinal Cord Stimulation in Refractory or Augmented Restless Legs Syndrome.

To learn more about this study, click here. 

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