Bloom Syndrome Grant Opportunity

The Orphan Disease Center (ODC) at the University of Pennsylvania is pleased to announce the Bloom Syndrome Grant Program. We are seeking grant applications that progress the knowledge or the development of treatments and/or cures for Bloom syndrome. While the RFA is broad in scope, priority will be given to grants that cover the following areas:

• Improve knowledge of tumor biology for Bloom syndrome
• Novel therapeutic approaches for Bloom syndrome

Letters of Interest (LOIs) are due no later than FRIDAY, APRIL 15, 2022, by 5pm EST. Find out more and apply here.

Bloom syndrome is an ultra-rare multi system disorder that substantially increases the risk of developing cancer at an early age. While only about ~300 cases have been reported to date, Bloom syndrome is part of a group of rare DNA damage response and repair disorders. BLM pathogenic variants that cause Bloom syndrome results in DNA repair defects which results in a chromosome breaks and rearrangements. The abnormal DNA repair is responsible for the increased risk for cancer. Greater knowledge of its mechanisms will be beneficial not only for patients of Bloom syndrome but also could be translated to the clinic for cancer therapy.