DMD/BMD — Adam Engler, Ph.D.

Adam Engler, assistant professor at the University of California, San Diego, in La Jolla, was awarded an MDA research grant totaling $390,000 over three years to study cell-based therapies designed for Duchenne (DMD) and Becker (BMD) muscular dystrophies and other muscle diseases.

DMD/BMD — Dean Burkin, Ph.D.

Dean Burkin, associate professor of pharmacology at the University of Nevada School of Medicine in Reno, was awarded an MDA research grant totaling $308,028 over three years to study laminin-111 protein therapy for Duchenne (DMD) and Becker (BMD) muscular dystrophies.

DMD/BMD — Ryan Wuebbles, Ph.D.

Ryan Wuebbles, a postdoctoral fellow in pharmacology at the University of Nevada School of Medicine in Reno, was awarded an MDA development grant (DG) totaling $180,000 over three years to study the potential use of a protein called laminin-111 as the basis of therapies for Duchenne (DMD) and Becker (BMD) muscular dystrophies.

DMD/BMD — David Gokhin, Ph.D.

Research associate David Gokhin at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, Calif., was awarded an MDA development grant totaling $180,000 over three years to study the role of a protein called gamma-actin in muscle degeneration and weakness in Duchenne (DMD) and Becker (BMD) muscular dystrophies.

DMD — Tathagata Chaudhuri, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral research fellow Tathagata Chaudhuri, at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, was awarded an MDA development grant (DG) totaling $180,000 over three years to develop a stem cell therapy for muscular dystrophies, including Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), that will lead to muscle regeneration.

MD Briefs: Corrected Stem Cells, Membrane Sealants

LGMD2D mice benefit from corrected human stem cells

A multinational team of scientists successfully transplanted genetically corrected muscle stem cells derived from people with type 2D limb-girdle muscular dystrophy (LGMD2D) into LGMD2D research mice and saw better muscle function in these mice than in similar mice that didn't receive the cells.

Seeing Is Understanding: Imaging Techniques Advance

Researchers are very good at understanding what is going on with things they can’t see directly, whether it be the membranes of muscle cells or the motor neurons of the spinal cord. But what is true for the rest of us is equally true for scientists: Seeing something is often the quickest and most direct way to understand it.

MDA Matters Summer 2012

Six to be profiled on MDA SHOW OF STRENGTH

MDA's annual Labor Day weekend telecast is coming right up.

Renamed MDA SHOW of STRENGTH, this three-hour entertainment special will have a new look, feel and format — for details, see MDA Show of Strength.

Six individuals have been selected to help tell viewers about life with neuromuscular disease. (Note: Click on photos to expand; rollover for cutline.)

We're Taking Our Pulse

In describing our MDA community, I’ve often referred to us as being much like a human body. Our sponsors and volunteers are our backbone, and the families we serve are our heart. Without our sponsors and volunteers, we would collapse; without our heart, we would cease to exist.

MDA is continuously measuring the pulse of our MDA community and at all times is centered on the heart of our effort — you. Here are a few of the ways that MDA is actively seeking your input.

Heart Drug Being Tested in DMD

Eplerenone, a drug commonly used to prevent scarring after a heart attack, is being tested in a phase 2-3 clinical trial to determine whether it can stop or slow heart damage in people with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD).  

Eplerenone blocks scarring that over time can turn heart muscle into nonfunctioning fatty tissue.

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