Funding for Munich ALS Researcher

Munich/Germany, December, 12, 2025. Dr. Qihui Zhou, a neuroscientist at DZNE’s Munich site, has received funding of 100,000 Swiss francs from the Frick Foundation for ALS Research (Switzerland) for a period of two years. With this support, Zhou and her research group will take a closer look at the role of the immune system in the most common genetic form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The project focuses on how specific immune cells influence the course of the disease.  

ALS is a devastating neurodegenerative disease in which neurons in the brain and spinal cord that control muscles gradually die. This results in progressive muscle paralysis. There is no cure yet and the disease leads to death, usually within a few years. A proportion of ALS cases are genetic. Particularly common are changes in a gene called C9orf72.  

This is where the new project funded by the Frick Foundation comes in: Qihui Zhou and her team will be investigating why certain immune cells (specifically, it’s about gamma delta T-17 cells) enter the nervous system in C9orf72-associated ALS and what consequences this has. Evidence suggests that they affect inflammatory processes and may therefore influence disease progression.

Laying the groundwork for future therapies 

The project builds on findings from Zhou’s research on ALS and FTD funded by the European Research Council (ERC). With the support from the Frick Foundation, the neuroscientist and her team aim to deepen understanding of the disease mechanisms underlying ALS – and thus pave the way for new approaches for diagnostics and therapies.