Samantha Harris, an associate professor in the department of neurobiology, physiology and behavior at the University of California, Davis, has been awarded an MDA grant totaling $244,024 over two years. The funding will help Harris in her quest to determine the properties of a skeletal-muscle protein called myosin binding protein C.

Mutations in the gene for myosin binding protein C affect muscle contraction and could play a role in a number of muscle diseases.

"MDA support of this work comes at a pivotal time," Harris said, "not only for the opportunity it provides for making rapid inroads into our understanding of [muscle contraction abnormalities], but also for the opportunity it provides in opening up new research directions for my lab by fostering new collaborations. I am eager to get started!"

Funding for this MDA grant began August 1, 2011.