Optimized anti-seizure screening in fruit flies for 15q+ epilepsy
Official title: Optimized Anti-Epileptic Screening Using Drosophila Models
Funded at Tulane University of Louisiana · NIH-11416168 · Data updated 2026-11-12
A researcher at Tulane is testing whether already-approved drugs can help people with a specific epilepsy linked to 15q+ syndrome by using fruit flies to find promising anti-seizure medicines.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Tulane University of Louisiana NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (New Orleans, United States) |
| Project start | January 21, 2025 |
| Project end | August 31, 2028 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $356,872 |
| NIH project number | 4R33NS134960-02 |
| Project ID | NIH-11416168 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Individuals with Duplication 15q-associated epilepsy or pharmacoresistant epilepsy may benefit from future trials or therapies arising from this work.
✕Less likely to help
Patients whose epilepsy does not involve Duplication 15q or does not respond to the identified drug candidates may not benefit.
What this research studies
This project uses fruit fly models of pharmacoresistant epilepsy to speed up the discovery of effective anti-seizure drugs. It builds on a screening workflow that tracks fly behavior with video and records electrical brain activity in tethered flies, aiming to improve efficiency. In the R33 phase, researchers will screen over 3,500 approved drugs to identify candidates that could be repurposed for Duplication 15q-related epilepsy and related models. The work could yield new therapeutic options and establish a platform for rapid in vivo drug screening in epilepsy models.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the project could identify repurposed medications that help people with pharmacoresistant epilepsy due to 15q+ syndrome.
How similar studies have gone: Previous work has shown that repurposed drugs can be effective in epilepsy models, and this project expands that approach to a specific genetic form using an in vivo fly model.
Where this research is happening
-
Tulane University of Louisiana
New Orleans, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Reiter, Lawrence T — Tulane University of Louisiana
- Study coordinator: Reiter, Lawrence T
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.