M. Flower, MD, PhD: Huntington & ataxia research

Small in scope, large in impact, Movement Disorders Foundation is the only grantmaker in Colorado that exclusively funds cross-disease research in the spectrum of clinical disorders that includes Parkinson's disease and parkinsonism, dystonia, essential tremor, Huntington's disease and more. 

Our Young Investigator Pilot Grants (YIPG) support high-risk/high-reward innovative projects - from conception and one-off testing to proof of concept - that are aimed at developing new insights into the pathophysiology, etiology and/or treatment of multiple movement disorders.

Annual grants of $50,000 are awarded to recipients for direct support of research. If substantial productivity is demonstrated in the first year, the grant may be renewed for an additional year if the awardee can demonstrate how the funding will facilitate competition for a NIH R01 grant or equivalent.

In 2024, the Movement Disorders Foundation announced its inaugural round of Young Investigator Pilot Grants. Recipients included Michael Flower, MD, PhD, Senior Clinical Research Fellow and Consultant Academic Neurologist at the University College London Institute of Neurology and National Hospital for Neurology.  To be eligible for consideration, Dr. Flower was required to address specific applicability to Huntington’s disease in his research project: CSF biomarkers for somatic instability and treatment efficacy, as well as one other movement disorder, and demonstrate the potential to facilitate rapid translation to clinically useful therapies. View the video below to learn about Dr. Flower's project: 

Click here to read Dr. Flower's research proposal.

Young Investigator Pilot Grants are funded by donors like you, and the Movement Disorders Foundation offers individuals the opportunity to underwrite individual research projects, such as Dr. Flower's, or specific disease categories such as Huntington's disease, Parkinson's disease and essential tremor. 

Donors also can create customizable webpages for collecting donations online on behalf of a dedicated research project or a category of movement disorders. Click here for more information or e-mail admin@movementdisordersfoundation.org to schedule an appointment with our executive director.

Unlike other funders of medical and scientific research, the Movement Disorders Foundation provides donors of every level with routine communication on their funded research project, including breakthroughs and progress reports, videos from researchers and virtual lab tours, impact metrics, Q&A sessions with researchers and more. 

Most importantly, 100% of all donations from our supporters are strictly allocated to our research grants. These funds can only be spent to pay researchers. Our administrative expenses are covered separately by annual fund contributions.