Ataxia is a neurological disease that robs patients of muscle coordination and balance and routinely diminishes quality of life. It can cause chronic pain, lead to involuntary muscle contractions, affect speech and swallowing, and limit mobility. It has no cure.
Alyssa Lyon, a doctoral candidate in Virginia Tech’s Translational Biology, Medicine, and Health Graduate Program (TBMH), believes she may have identified a way to optimize symptom relief in one form of the disease.
She will explore her hypothesis in Meike van der Heijden’s lab at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC with a two-year, $50,000 grant from the National Ataxia Foundation…