Dame Kay Davies, Dr. Lee’s Professor of Anatomy in the department of physiology, anatomy and genetics at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, was awarded an MDA research grant totaling $207,566 over a period of two years to conduct a drug screen for molecules that can increase levels of a protein called utrophin, which can be developed for clinical trials in Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD).

Radbod Darabi, assistant professor of medicine at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, was awarded an MDA research grant totaling $380,049 over a period of three years to develop methods to use cells derived from skin to regenerate muscle tissue in a model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD).

Joseph Beavo, professor of pharmacology at the University of Washington in Seattle was awarded an MDA research grant totaling $412,500 over a period of three years to study how the drug sildenafil acts to improve the function of heart muscle in animal models of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD).

Linda Baum, professor and vice chair of pathology and laboratory medicine at the Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, was awarded an MDA research grant totaling $405,000 over a period of three years to study molecules on the muscle surface that regulate important aspects of cellular communication and survival.

Matthew Alexander, a postdoctoral research fellow in genetics and pediatrics at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Mass., was awarded an MDA development grant totaling $180,000 over a period of three years to study the role of microRNAs in Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD).