Current Research

33 Active Projects at 28 Institutions in 21 Diseases

Researchers work on current repurposing research projects We support investigator-initiated repurposing research projects in any unsolved disease including cardio, neuro, oncology, ophthalmic, vascular and rare diseases in pediatrics and adults. We support projects from accredited academic and nonprofit research institutions and large group medical practices located anywhere in the world. Our Impact Awards support early-stage companies bringing a repurposed treatment to market.

We take an impact philanthropy approach that prioritizes patient when selecting repurposing research projects. We support both philanthropic projects, which have little or no commercial value but have critical value to patients, as well as commercial projects, which industry may bring to regulatory approval and then to market. Our proof-of-concept funding of repurposing projects allows researchers and clinicians to leverage positive data into follow-on funding.

Our current projects were selected through a two-stage submission process. Applicants submit a brief proposal submissions usually followed by full grant applications. Project proposals are reviewed by an external, volunteer Grant Review Committee which represents academia, industry, clinicians and the patient voice. The committee helps staff and the Science Advisory Board select the strongest projects. Our customized approach allows donors to be as involved in the entire process as desired.

The diversity of our current projects reflects our disease-agnostic, patient-first approach:

more than 75% adult, less than 25% pediatric
more than 90% clinical, less than 10% pre-clinical
more than 70% drug, less than 30% device or other
more than 85% US-based, less than 15% outside of the US

Current Repurposing Research Projects

DISEASE AREA	INSTITUTION	LEAD RESEARCHER	PROJECT NAME	TYPE	OTHER	STATUS
Diabetes	Massachusetts General Hospital	Dr. Faustman	Repurposing a Vaccine for Type I Diabetes	Vaccine	Adult	In Process
Diabetic Ophthalmology	Northwestern University	Dr. Basti	Treating Cataracts in Diabetic Patients Using a Surgical Device	Device	Adult	In Process
Infectious Disease	Obafemi Awolowo University & Teaching Hospitals Complex	Prof. Adewole	Treating Tuberculosis with the Lipid Lowering Drug Atorvastatin in Nigeria	Drug	Adult	Started 2020
Infectious Disease	George Washington University, Universidad El Bosque	Dr. Chang	Repurposing a Flu Treatment for Severe Dengue Patients in Colombia	Drug	Pediatric	Started 2020
Infectious Disease	University of Chicago	Dr. Meltzer	Can Vitamin D Reduce the Burden of COVID-19 in Chicago?	Nutraceutical	Adult	Started 2020
Infectious Disease	Northwestern University	Dr. Rado	Repurposing an Antidepressant to Prevent Hospitalization in COVID-19	Drug	Adult	Started 2020
Inner Ear	Curtin University	Dr. Brown	Testing a generic diuretic to improve drug delivery to the inner ear in Meniere’s disease	Drug	Pre-clinical	Started 2020
Inner Ear	House Ear Institute	Dr. Derebery	Reducing vertigo and hearing loss in Meniere’s disease by repurposing a common allergy drug	Drug	Adult	Started 2020
Inner Ear	Stanford Medicine	Dr. Grimes	Modulating inner ear fluid regulation to treat Meniere’s disease	Drug	Pre-Clinical	Started 2020
Inner Ear	The Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research	Dr. Pathak	Investigating the effects of repurposed diuretic, steroid and immunosuppressive drugs in Meniere’s disease	Drug	Pre-Clinical	Started 2020
Inner Ear	Medical University of South Carolina	Dr. Rizk	Assessing the efficacy of an antidepressant for improving vertigo attacks in Meniere’s disease	Drug	Adult	Started 2020
Inner Ear	Hospital of the Ludwig-Maximilians University, Munich	Dr. Strupp	Combining a vertigo drug with a Parkinson’s disease drug to treat the inner ear disorder, Meniere’s disease	Drug	Adult	In Process
Inner Ear	Dent Neurologic Institute	Dr. Zhang	Combining an anti-epileptic drug with an anti-anxiety drug to treat the inner ear disorder Meniere’s disease	Drug	Adult	In Process
Neuro	The Pennsylvania State University and the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center	Dr. Elfar	Repurposing a Multiple Sclerosis Drug in Severe Limb Trauma*	Drug into Diagnostic	Adult	In Process
Neuro	Johns Hopkins Medicine	Dr. Kumar, Wang	Repurposing Over the Counter Cough Medicine as a Rapid Acting Antidepressant	Drug	Adult	In Process
Neuro	Shirley Ryan AbilityLab	Dr. Lieber	Repurposing a Blood Cancer Treatment to Treat Muscle Contractures in Cerebral Palsy Patients*	Drug	Pediatric	Started 2020
Neuro	University of Pennsylvania Medicine	Dr. Oathes	Using Imaging Techniques to Guide Targeted Brain Stimulation in the Treatment of Depression and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder	Device	Adult	In Process
Neuro/Rare	Georgetown University	Dr. Anderson	Using a Cancer Drug in Huntington's Disease	Drug	Adult	In Process
Neuro/Rare	McGovern Medical School at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston	Dr. Furr-Stimming	Treating Irritability in Huntington’s Disease with a Repurposed Neurological Drug	Drug	Adult	In Process
Oncology	The Hospital for Sick Children	Dr. Suwwan	Low-Level Laser Therapy to Address Treatment Side Effects in Pediatric Cancer Patients	Device	Pediatric	In Process
Oncology/Rare	University of Cambridge	Prof. Allen	Testing Two Generic Drugs to Improve Outcomes in Osteosarcoma, a Rare Bone Cancer	Drug	Pre-Clinical	Started 2021
Oncology/Rare	University of California, Irvine	Dr. Fleischman	Treating a Group of Rare Blood Cancers, Myeloproliferative Neoplasms, with a Nutraceutical*	Nutraceutical	Adult	Started 2020
Oncology/Rare	University of Michigan	Dr. Pettit	Using a Skin Cancer Drug to Improve Current Treatment in a Rare Blood Cancer, Myelofibrosis	Drug	Adult	In Process
Oncology/Rare	University of Michigan	Dr. Phillips	Improving Patient Response in Mantle Cell Lymphoma with Venetoclax	Drug	Adult	Started 2020
Oncology/Rare	Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia	Dr. Seif	Preventing Relapse After Bone Marrow Transplant in Pediatric Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) with a Personalized Treatment	Drug	Pediatric	Started 2020
Oncology/Rare	University of Michigan	Dr. Swiecicki	Repurposing Old Drugs as New Therapies for Metastatic Thyroid Cancer*	Drug	Adult	In Process
Oncology/Rare	Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School, VUmc Cancer Center Amsterdam	Drs. Tannous, Arrillaga-Romany, Kouwenhoven	A Novel Combination of Generic Chemotherapy Drugs to Treat Brain Cancer	Drug	Adult	In Process
Ophthalmic/Rare	University of California, Davis	Dr. Park	Repurposing Bone Marrow Stem Cell Therapy for Vision Loss Caused by Retinitis Pigmentosa	Other	Adult	Started 2020
Ophthalmic/Rare	University of Michigan	Dr. Zacks	Testing a Generic Malarial Drug in a Rare Ophthalmic Condition, Retinitis Pigmentosa	Drug	Adult	In Process
Other	KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme	Dr. Hamaluba	Testing the Safety of a Metal Poisoning Drug to Treat Snakebite in Kenya	Drug	Adult	Started 2020
Rare	The Hospital for Sick Children, National Institutes of Health	Drs. Dowling, Bönnemann	TAM4MTM: Tamoxifen Therapy for Myotubular Myopathy	Drug	Pediatric	In Process
Rare	Vietnam National Children’s Hospital/Big Leap Research	Dr. Nguyen	Improving Outcomes for the Rare Liver Disease Biliary Atresia with a Cancer Drug in Vietnam	Drug	Pediatric	Started 2021
Rare	St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital	Dr. Nichols	Repurposing a Blood Cancer Drug to Treat an Immune Disorder (HLH) in Children*	Drug	Pediatric	In Process

*CureAccelerator Live! winner