January 4, 2008

Pioneering Researcher to Chair
MDA Scientific Advisory Committee

Louis M. Kunkel

TUCSON, Ariz., Jan. 4, 2008 -- The Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) announced today that it has appointed Louis M. Kunkel as chairman of its Scientific Advisory Committee.

Kunkel is a professor of pediatrics and genetics at Harvard Medical School in Boston, where he’s also a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator.

In the late 1980s, Kunkel led a research team that identified a new muscle protein called dystrophin and described how its loss is the underlying cause of Duchenne muscular dystrophy, the most common childhood form of MD.

He has received many MDA research grants since that time and has been a member of the Association’s Scientific Advisory Committee for 15 years.

“Lou Kunkel is a world-renowned geneticist and has been a tireless advocate for and adviser to MDA and the neuromuscular disease community for more than 20 years,” said Dr. Valerie Cwik, MDA’s medical director and vice president of Research. “We look forward to his guidance of the Association’s research program in this exciting era of therapy development.”

In his new position, Kunkel succeeds Dr. Stanley Appel, chairman of neurology at the Methodist Neurological Institute in Houston, who will now direct MDA’s Medical Advisory Committee.

MDA’s Scientific Advisory Committee reviews grant applications to the Association for studies of basic science pertaining to nerve and muscle disorders, while the Medical Advisory Committee reviews applications for applied and translational (from lab to clinic) research.

About MDA

MDA is a voluntary health agency working to defeat more than 40 neuromuscular diseases through programs of worldwide research, comprehensive services, and far-reaching professional and public health education. For more information, please visit www.mda.org.