AUSTRALIAN RESEARCHER AWARDED $375K MDA GRANT FOR DUCHENNE DYSTROPHY
TUCSON, Ariz., Aug. 18, 2010 — Australian professor Gordon S. Lynch, Ph.D., says he will never forget an advertisement he saw as a teenager. That ad, he maintains, is what propelled him into the field of muscular dystrophy research, and remains top of mind as his team fights muscular dystrophy by working to preserve muscle fibers, enhance muscle regeneration and promote muscle growth.
“It showed a muscular fellow wearing a T-shirt that promoted research into muscular dystrophy,” recalled Lynch. “The message read something along the lines of: ‘While we're building our muscles, others are wasting away. Together, let's fight muscular dystrophy.’
"That has always stuck with me, and even 30 years later as a professor of physiology, I still find that message very inspirational,” Lynch said. “It is a message that helps drive my lab's research into understanding why muscle fibers break down in muscular dystrophy; how we can potentially intervene to promote repair and growth; and ultimately how we might contribute to a cure for this devastating disease.”
 | | Gordon S. Lynch, Ph.D. |
To help advance his research on how a molecule called insulin-like growth factor may play a key role in the cycles of muscle damage and repair in Duchenne muscular dystrophy, the Muscular Dystrophy Association Board of Directors awarded Lynch $375,000 in new funding at its July meeting. Including this grant, Lynch, who heads up the Basic and Clinical Myology Laboratory at the University of Melbourne, has received more than $1.1 million in MDA research grants since 2000.
MDA Scientific Advisory Chairman Louis Kunkel, Ph.D., underscored the importance of Lynch’s efforts. “Therapies for Duchenne, like therapies for other complex diseases, may well require more than one strategy. Understanding the role of muscle growth factors and the proteins with which they interact may well lead to important new approaches for dealing with DMD.”
Lynch is one of 38 research leaders awarded grants from a new round of MDA grant funding, totaling just over $14 million. MDA has invested almost $39 million in 2010 in neuromuscular disease research projects around the world.
According to R. Rodney Howell, M.D., chairman of the MDA Board of Directors, “Generous Americans responding to the annual Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon, and to thousands of other special events benefiting the families served by MDA, deserve much of the credit for the rapid progress being made toward treatments for neuromuscular diseases. It’s their strong belief in MDA’s capable stewardship of public funds that’s enabling so much to be accomplished — even in a sluggish economy.”
Research grant applications are peer-reviewed twice yearly by MDA’s Medical and Scientific Advisory Committees, comprising world-renowned experts in neuromuscular disease research. The most promising of some 500 applications received each year are recommended for funding to the MDA Board of Directors.
Often credited for its leadership in building the field of neuromuscular disease research, MDA has simultaneously enhanced clinical care for individuals affected by muscle disorders, achieving important quality of life and longevity gains. The Association is the first nonprofit to earn a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Medical Association (“for significant and lasting contributions to the health and welfare of humanity”).
More than 1 million people in America are affected by neuromuscular diseases.
MDA-funded scientists have uncovered the genetic defects that cause several forms of muscular dystrophy; Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT); a form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease); childhood spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) and other neuromuscular conditions. Now entering a period of increasing numbers of clinical trials of potential therapeutics, the Association’s network of approximately 200 hospital-affiliated clinics is instrumental in identifying appropriate candidates for clinical trials; and to help refine outcome measures for those clinical trials.
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. For more information on MDA research and programs, go to www.mda.org.
For more information about these new grants, visit MDA's "Grants at a Glance," an online slideshow that showcases each grant with photos and detailed information. |
