CureDuchenne: Scientific advisors to come together to find cure for DMD

Today, CureDuchenne, a nonprofit dedicated to raising funds and awareness for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD), announced that on March 19, 2010 the organization’s scientific advisors from around the country will come together in the fight to find a cure for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.

“We know that the path to a cure starts with collaboration”

The group of ten includes world-class scientists coming together for the chance to sit with each other and share new strategies around finding a cure for DMD, a disease that is the leading genetic killer of children, affecting more than 20,000 boys in the US.

“We know that the path to a cure starts with collaboration,” said CureDuchenne co-founder Debra Miller. “By bringing together ten of the world’s most forward-thinking scientists, researchers and drug development experts in the field of DMD research, we hope to be able to best identify the strategy necessary to move treatment options into the human clinical trial stage. We’re racing the clock to save our boys, and if there ever was a group capable of finding a cure, it’s this one.”

The inaugural DMD Summit will include these muscle disease and drug development experts::

• Barry Byrne, MD, PhD, University of Florida
• Jeffrey Chamberlain, PhD, University of Washington
• Kevin Campbell, PhD, University of Iowa
• Eric Hoffman, PhD, George Washington University School of Medicine
• Edward Kaye, MD, Genzyme
• Douglas Macdonald, PhD, CHDI Foundation, Inc.
• Carrie Miceli, PhD, UCLA
• Stanley Nelson, MD, UCLA
• Pier Lorenzo Puri, MD, PhD, The Burnham Institute
• Brian Tseng, MD, PhD, Harvard University and Massachusetts General Hospital

This group of scientists serves as CureDuchenne’s scientific advisory board and works with the organization to determine what projects around the world are closest to the human clinical trial phase and the most viable for funding. To date, CureDuchenne has provided millions of dollars in funding for DMD research around the world and has been integral in bringing 3 treatment options to the human clinical trial phase.

The DMD Summit will take place over the course of three days and will include closed session discussions, research project evaluation and a breakfast event where each participant will report on the findings from the weekend. The breakfast will be attended by DMD parents, advocates and supporters.