Successful Beginning for Wellstone Muscular Dystrophy Center at Boston Biomedical Research... ( WATERTOWN Mass. July 2 -- Last week ...)

Successful Beginning for Wellstone Muscular Dystrophy Center at Boston Biomedical Research Institute

Date:7/2/2009

WATERTOWN, Mass., July 2 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Last week, physicians, scientists, patients and members of the biotech industry from around the world gathered for the first major meeting of a unique research center on muscular dystrophy -- the Senator Paul D. Wellstone Muscular Dystrophy Cooperative Research Center.

Established last year and based at Boston Biomedical Research Institute (BBRI) in Watertown, MA, it is the only Wellstone Center and the only center in the world to focus solely on finding treatments and cures for the second most common adult form of MD known as facioscapulohumeral (FSH) muscular dystrophy. It is also the only Wellstone Center (there are five others in the US) in New England.

The purpose of the two-day retreat (June 16-18) was for world experts on this debilitating disease to present their current research findings, discuss and plan collaborative projects and fine-tune future research.

"We accomplished a great deal during this first gathering," said Dr. Charles Emerson, director of Boston Biomedical Research Institute and the Wellstone Center. "This was a wonderful opportunity to bring together the best minds involved in FSH research. We heard from individuals involved with this disease from Australia to Brazil to Iowa to Children's Hospital here in Boston. Their perspectives inform our direction moving forward."

FSH, which affects at least one in 20,000 adults worldwide, is characterized by a weakening of the skeletal muscles, beginning in the face and slowly progressing to the shoulder and upper-arm muscles and then down to the abdominal and foot-extensor muscles. In the worst cases, all skeletal muscles are lost, hearing and vision are involved, and respiratory insufficiency can cause severe disability.

The six Wellstone Centers -- inspired by and named for the late Senator Paul D. Wellstone and funded by the National Institutes of He
'/>"/>

0

GOOD

Page: 1 2
Related medicine news :

1. New Study Shows Many Unplanned Quit Smoking Attempts are Successful
2. The Meetings Industry...Stirred But Not Shaken by Current Economic Setbacks - Patriot Meetings Announces Their 360 Degree Program that Ensures Successful Meetings
3. Women with cystic fibrosis can have safe and successful fertility treatment
4. Successful Demonstration of Health Information Exchange Opens ARRA Stimulus Options for California
5. Lenox Hill Heart and Vascular Institute of New York and Mentice, Inc. Announce the Successful Completion of Their 1st Trans-septal Cardiac Catheterization Training Course: A Comprehensive Hands-On Tutorial with Certification on June 12th and 13th 2009 in
6. Atlantic Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Announces Completion of Successful Pre-IND Meeting with FDA for Abuse Deterrent Narcotic
7. Successful neurosurgery with transcranial MR-guided high-intensity focused ultrasound
8. Nationwide telemedicine networks are essential for successful health care reform
9. Palomar Successful in U.S. Patent Office Re-Examination of Hair Removal Patent
10. Havels Incorporated Expands Successful EchoStim(R) Ultrasound Needles into Canada
11. Impliant Granted Two New U.S. Patents and Successfully Defends European Patent Opposition Case

Post Your Comments:

Successful Beginning for Wellstone Muscular Dystrophy Center at Boston Biomedical Research...( WATERTOWN Mass. July 2 -- Last week ...),Health