Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD)

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.

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.

DMD — Pavlath

MDA has awarded a research grant totaling $295,269 over three years to Grace Pavlath, professor in the department of pharmacology at Emory University in Atlanta. The new funds will help support Pavlath’s study of abnormal muscle regeneration in the muscular dystrophies, particularly Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD).

DMD — Duan

Dongsheng Duan, professor in the department of molecular microbiology & immunology at the University of Missouri in Columbia, has received an MDA grant totaling $527,670 over three years. The funds will help support Duan's continued research into gene therapy in Duchenne muscular dystrophy DMD).

DMD is caused by a mutation in the dystrophin gene, which leads to the absence, or near absence, of dystrophin protein.

DMD — Goldhamer

MDA has awarded a research grant totaling $375,000 over three years to David Goldhamer, associate professor, director of the Center for Regenerative Biology, and associate director of the UConn Stem Cell Institute at the University of Connecticut in Storrs. The new funds will help support Goldhamer’s study of muscle stem cells and the repair of damaged muscle in Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD).

DMD — Olwin

MDA has awarded a research grant totaling $369,165 over three years to Bradley Olwin, professor of molecular, cellular & developmental biology at the University of Colorado in Boulder. The new funds will help support Olwin’s study of muscle regeneration in injured and diseased skeletal muscle — particularly in the muscular dystrophies, including Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD).

Olwin is a longtime MDA grantee, having received funding from the Association almost continuously since the early 1980s.

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