Our research goals
The common fundamental goals of the projects are to characterize and understand normal and abnormal patterns of gene expression in developing muscle from the stem cell state through to maturity. Further, we aim to understand the molecular consequences of specific genetic defects and to identify appropriate targets for therapeutic intervention.
Based on these fundamental goals, there are three complementary approaches to our research:
- To enroll patients with specific neuromuscular disorders in our research
- To identify new muscle-specific genes and proteins through biochemical and molecular analysis
- To research gene expression using microarray technology
The laboratory focuses on the following types of muscular dystrophy, but we enroll patients with any kind of neuromuscular disorder.
- Duchenne/Becker Muscular Dystrophy (DMD/BMD)
- Facioscapulohumeral Muscular Dystrophy (FSHD)
- Limb Girdle Muscular Dystrophy (LGMD)
- Myotonic Muscular Dystrophy (MMD)