CLEVELAND -- Robert Miller, professor of neurosciences at Case Western Reserve University's School of Medicine, recently received the Javits Investigator Award, which provides research funding of $250,000 annually for seven years to select researchers.

Recipients must have demonstrated exceptional scientific excellence and productivity in one of the areas of neurological research supported by the National Institute of Disorders and Stroke (one of the National Institutes of Health), which administers the award.

Congress established the awards in 1983 to honor the late Senator Jacob Javits (R-NY), who for several years was a victim of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a degenerative neurological disorder also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. Only about 12 of these awards are given annually.

"This is a tremendous honor for Professor Miller and the medical school," said Nathan Berger, dean of the School of Medicine and vice president for medical affairs at CWRU. "Neuroscience research has the potential to unlock the mysteries of so many disorders of the nervous system, from Alzheimer's disease to paralysis."

Miller, who earned a doctorate at University College London, England, has been with the School of Medicine since 1987. His research involves understanding the cellular and molecular factors that regulate the development and function of glial cells which create a network that supports the tissue of the central nervous system.

The Javits grant will focus on multiple sclerosis, a disease in which the nerves of the eye, brain, and spinal cord lose patches of myelin, the layer of insulation wrapped around nerve fibers. His laboratory will also study brain tumors that are derived primarily from glial cells as well as studying the causes of cerebral palsy.

Miller is the fifth Javits award winner associated with CWRU. The others are Lynn Landmesser, the Arline H. and Curtis F. Garvin Professor and chair of the Department of Neurosciences; Story Landis, former chair of the department; Dennis Landis, chair and director of the Department of Neurology at CWRU and University Hospitals of Cleveland; W. David Lust, professor of neurological surgery; and Guillermo Pilar, professor of neurosciences.