NIH, MDA ANNOUNCE THREE TOP
MUSCULAR DYSTROPHY RESEARCH CENTERS

TUCSON, Ariz., Oct. 14, 2003 — The National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) today announced the creation of three “centers of excellence” for muscular dystrophy research.

The establishment of the centers was mandated by the MD-CARE (Muscular Dystrophy Community Assistance, Research and Education) Act, passed in 2001, following extensive lobbying efforts by MDA.

The MD-CARE Act directs the federal government, through NIH, to allocate substantial funding for research that one day may result in treatments or cures for the muscular dystrophies. MDA, a voluntary health organization supported by private donations, will supplement the NIH grants with its own funds.

The research centers named are at the University of Washington in Seattle, the University of Rochester (N.Y.) and the University of Pittsburgh. The centers will act as collaborative hubs of basic and applied research and will maintain partnerships with other institutions. The University of Washington center will work with the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, also in Seattle, and the University of Pittsburgh center will collaborate with the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill and Ohio State University in Columbus.

Each of the three centers will receive up to $1 million in federal funding through NIH per year for five years and up to $500,000 per year from MDA for three years, for a total of up to $6.5 million per center. Two additional centers are expected to be funded in the future.

The centers, at universities that already conduct basic, clinical and behavioral research projects, were chosen because of their research faculty members’ expertise and current projects dealing with muscular dystrophy. With NIH and MDA support, they’ll unite teams of scientists to create knowledge that will improve the quality of life for people with muscular dystrophy. NIH said the three centers exemplify "expertise, infrastructure and resources focused on major questions about MD."

MDA Director of Research Development Sharon Hesterlee said, “These centers bring together a critical combination of muscular dystrophy-related research that could lead to much faster therapy development. By augmenting the centers’ NIH funding, MDA can help ensure that financial means are available for the centers to fulfill their potential."

Since 1950, MDA has led funding of research into many forms of neuromuscular disease. All forms of MD are characterized by progressive weakness and degeneration of voluntary muscles that control movement. The heart and respiratory muscles also often are involved, which can shorten life and lead to severe disability.

Under center director molecular geneticist Joseph C. Glorioso, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh are studying gene and stem cell therapies to treat muscle diseases, in particular Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Molecular geneticist Jeffrey S. Chamberlain will direct the center at the University of Washington. His and other groups will conduct studies to develop new gene therapies for Duchenne and other forms of muscular dystrophy.

Neurologist Richard T. Moxley III will lead the University of Rochester center. Researchers there will look at skeletal muscle at cellular and molecular levels to determine which factors might contribute to the symptoms of facioscapulohumeral and myotonic muscular dystrophies.

A steering committee of NIH staff scientists, directors of each of the research centers, a public member and a bioethicist will oversee progress of research activities at the three sites.

MDA is a voluntary health agency working to defeat more than 40 neuromuscular diseases, including the MDs, through programs of worldwide research, comprehensive services, and far-reaching professional and public health education.