The Global Leukodystrophy Initiative (GLIA) seeks to accelerate research and promote education and awareness efforts across the leukodystrophy by facilitating communication and collaboration between clinical experts, basic science researchers, patient advocacy representatives, and industry leaders.

A newly announced five-year grant from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) is funding a new multi-center research program known as the Global Leukodystrophy Initiative Clinical Trials Network (GLIA-CTN). This new program seeks to create a robust research infrastructure that will allow for collection and analysis of longitudinal natural history data, development of novel clinical outcome assessments, and identification of surrogate biomarkers – ultimately paving the way for transformative therapeutic trials across the leukodystrophies.

In parallel to these approaches, the GLIA-CTN will work closely with a diverse group of stakeholders to promote disease awareness and education, advocate for the adoption of universal newborn screening and early diagnostic programs, and establish clinical guidelines to support the short- and long-term care of individuals living with leukodystrophies.

We invite you to learn more about these initiatives by visiting our website at theglia.org. For more information, you may also contact our Program Manager, Omar Sherbini, MPH at 215-590-3068 or sherbinio@email.chop.edu.