MDA TO HOST CONFERENCE
ON HEART MUSCLE DEGENERATION SEPT 28-30

TUCSON, Ariz., Sept. 22, 2003 — A conference to explore the molecular and cellular basis of cardiac muscle degeneration in muscular dystrophy, with implications for cardiac muscle degeneration in general, will take place Sept. 28- 30 in Tucson, the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) announced today.

Cardiac muscle degeneration, known as "cardiomyopathy," is a common and often fatal problem in muscular dystrophy and is also often seen in the general population, where it can occur without any apparent underlying muscle disease.

Among the more than 50 conference participants will be physicians and scientists from major medical centers across the United States, many of whom receive MDA research funding and all of whom have made contributions to the study of cardiomyopathy.

Elizabeth McNally of the University of Chicago School of Medicine, co-chair of the meeting, has MDA support to study the use of bone marrow-derived stem cells in muscular dystrophy. Jeffrey Towbin of Baylor College of Medicine in Houston is funded by MDA to study the mechanisms underlying a particular form of cardiomyopathy. He is co-chairing the conference with McNally.

Kevin Campbell, a longtime MDA grantee at the University of Iowa who has identified many of the proteins crucial to the structure of the muscle cell membrane, will discuss the molecular mechanisms of cardiomyopathy associated with muscular dystrophy.

MDA grantees Jeffrey Chamberlain of the University of Washington School of Medicine and Dongsheng Duan of the University of Missouri will present their recent findings on gene transfer to replace a missing muscle protein in the hearts of mice with muscular dystrophy.
MDA is the nonprofit health agency dedicated to curing muscular dystrophy, ALS and related diseases by funding worldwide research. The Association also provides comprehensive health care and support services, advocacy and education.