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Our mission is to empower people living with neuromuscular diseases to live longer, more independent lives.
Statement from the Muscular Dystrophy Association on Stanford Medicine Research Advancing Understanding of the Brain and Neuromuscular Disease
Washington, D.C., September 18, 2026 – Scientific advances that give researchers new ways to study the cells and systems affected by neuromuscular diseases are an important part of building a path toward better treatments and, ultimately, improved outcomes for people living with SMA and ALS in our community. The Stanford Medicine-led research identifying distinct developmental origins for the forebrain and hindbrain, and successfully generating functional human hindbrain motor neurons from pluripotent stem cells, represents an important advance in the tools available to researchers. Because specific hindbrain neurons are affected in SMA and ALS and play critical roles in functions including swallowing and breathing, having the ability to study these human cells in the laboratory could help researchers better understand how these diseases affect the nervous system and investigate potential therapeutic approaches.
The Muscular Dystrophy Association is encouraged by research that expands our ability to understand neuromuscular disease at the cellular level. While this work is an early research advance and does not represent a treatment for SMA or ALS, new laboratory models such as these can provide valuable tools for accelerating discovery and deepening our understanding of disease mechanisms.
