Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences Researcher Receives Victor E. Speas Foundation Grant

Jingsong Zhou, Ph.D., research investigator and professor of physiology at the Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences College of Osteopathic Medicine (KCU-COM), received a $165,000 grant from the Victor E. Speas Foundation to support continued study of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). Specifically, the grant will support additional work addressing muscle-bone crosstalk in the disease.

“This grant is an excellent opportunity to further ALS research,” said Dr. Zhou. “What makes this study so unique is that we will approach our research from many different angles. Prior to joining KCU, I studied the muscle and bone impact on ALS, but there are still many questions to answer. With ALS, multiple organs can impact the progression of the disease. This study will focus on
that impact.”

The Speas Foundation restricts its grants to those organizations that improve the quality of health care in the Kansas City area. This research grant, which was awarded Nov. 9, will have a one-year duration.

“The Speas Foundation award helps strengthen the University’s strategic commitment to advancing translational research in musculoskeletal disease and furthers KCU’s ongoing mission to improve the well being of the communities we serve,” said Jeffrey Joyce, Ph.D., KCU vice president for research. “We believe that it will support Dr. Zhou’s collaborative research efforts to understand the multiple avenues this disease takes in impacting ALS patients.”