It is a collaboration between 12 international partners, all experts in their fields, and is led by Professor Alessandra Ferlini at the University of Ferrara, Italy.

Biomarkers are substances in the body that offer a way to measure normal or abnormal processes in the body. This means that processes associated with particular diseases can be measured and disease progression monitored. It also means that the effect of drugs or other therapies on disease progression can be evaluated.

BIO-NMD’s website – www.bio-nmd.eu – provides additional details of the project and participant institutions, people involved and their roles within the project along with various overseeing ethical boards.

In particular there is now has a ‘patient-friendly’ section written in collaboration with the Patient Advisory Committee members from the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign, United Parents Projects and Telethon. The aim of the patient section is to explain what BIO-NMD is all about in lay-terms, to involve as many interested parties as possible, to provide contact details for the project and to ensure a mechanism for people to ask questions or provide feedback using an online form. The pages can be viewed at: www.bio-nmd.eu/forPatients/

Additionally, project updates and events of interest to the wider community will be featured on the website.

For further details please visit the site or contact the BIO-NMD communication and dissemination officer, Cathy Turner: catherine.turner@ncl.ac.uk; Tel: +44 (0)191 209 3549.

You can access information on funding for muscular dystrophy and the 218 areas that are reported at: http://report.nih.gov/rcdc/categories/. An easy way to remember how to get to this site is to just Google “NIH disease dollars” and it will be the first hit.

To access data in RePORT, scroll down to the category that you are interested in. Then go across the table to the FY2009 Actual column; clicking on the hyperlink dollar amount will yield a list of the awards funded by all NIH institutes in that category for FY2009. Note that FY2009 data are separated by non-ARRA and ARRA awards, so total funding for FY2009 is the sum of the two values. Also note that there also is a hyperlink for the FY2008 data (before then, we were on a different reporting system that required requesting lists of awards from each NIH institute). Once you have the award list up, you can sort by any of the table headers just by clicking on them.

More advanced features that allow you to access abstracts, further process the data, and download to a spreadsheet are available on this web site.

Carsten Bonnemann provided a CMD overview: clinical background and targets identified at the July “Therapeutic Targets in the CMDs” conference. Dean Burkin presented proof of concept and his preliminary data from an alpha1beta7 integrin assay. The assay which uses 2 reporters (lacZ and luciferase) has identified compounds which upregulate integrin expression. Paul Martin discussed his work on Galgt2 in the mdx and dyw mouse. His current research has focused on both transgenic and AAV mediated upregulation of Galgt2. An assay he developed to identify small molecules that upregulate Galgt2 will be further optimized prior to HTS. Valerie Allamand presented data from a nonsense mediated decay (NMD) assay developed in France and rationale behind pursuit of NMD and premature codon read through in the collagen VI myopathies. Her presentation highlighted the necessity in predicting mutation effect on protein function and structure as a prerequisite to pursuing NMD and/or PTC read through. Denis Guttridge discussed the alternative and classic signaling pathways in the context of muscular dystrophy and NFkB as a target. He also presented recent data highlighting an NFkB inhibitor peptide as a potential therapeutic in conditions of muscular dystrophy involving the classical pathway. Sweta Girgenrath reviewed current work in the dyw mouse looking at IgF and IPLEX. Chris Austin presented an overview of high throughput screening and NCGC capabilities. Wes Friesen and John Babiak discussed the importance of secondary assays and the development of Ataluren. Jim Dowling provided a comprehensive review of current CMD animal models, murine and zebrafish. John Porter closed the meeting with a rousing talk exhorting all to place a premium on rigor, objectivity and early target dissection to ensure the development of the optimal lead candidates and mobilization of resources for meaningful targets.

Meeting participants included:
Dr. John Porter, NINDS
Dr. Petra Kaufmann, NINDS
Dr. Amelie Gubitz, NINDS
Dr. Glen Nuckolls, NIAMS
Dr. Christopher Austin, Director, NIH Chemical Genomics Center (NCGC)
Dr. James Inglese, Deputy Director, NCGC
Dr. Wei Zheng Group Leader, Cellular Signaling Assay
Dr. Ron Johnson, Team Leader, Molecular Genetic Assay Technologies
Dr. Catherine Chen, Postdoctoral Fellow
Dr. John Babiak, PTC Therapeutics
Dr. Wes Friesen, PTC Therapeutics
Dr. Carsten Bonnemann, Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia
Dr. Dean Burkin, University of Nevada
Dr. Paul Martin, Nationswide Children
Dr. Valerie Allamand, Institute of Myology, Paris, France
Dr. Denis Guttridge, Ohio State University
Dr. Sweta Girgenrath, Boston University
Dr. Jim Dowling, University of Michigan
Dr. Anne Rutkowski, Cure CMD
Denise Philippi, NCGC staff

These positions feature outstanding research space with state-of-the-art shared
instrumentation, as well as substantial startup funds for equipment, personnel support and supplies. The University of Iowa is located in Iowa City, an affordable college community with many cultural amenities.

All applicants must have a relevant doctoral degree, productive research experience, and a strong record of research accomplishment. Candidates are judged on their potential to initiate and maintain a creative, independent research program, and their desire to train students and postdoctoral fellows.

To apply for this position, please visit the University of Iowa website at
http://jobs.uiowa.edu/faculty/view/57388. Applicants should include a CV, letter of interest, and the names of three references. Consideration of completed applications will begin on February 15, 2010. Questions may be directed to Dr. Kevin P. Campbell, Director of the ICMDR at kevin-campbell@uiowa.edu.

The University of Iowa is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer. Women and minorities are strongly
encouraged to apply.

The candidates must have a Ph.D. and a strong background either in cell biology/muscle physiology or in molecular biology. Previous experience in microscopy and/or epigenetics will be an important asset.

The successful candidate will join a multidisciplinary, highly dynamic group working at the interface between basic and biomedical research and covering all fields of research on muscle disorders (clinical, genetics, pathophysiology, cell stress, pharmacological therapies, therapeutic trials), with immediate clinical applications. He/she is expected to conduct with high autonomy a research project on the consequences of cell stress in skeletal muscle in early onset myopathies, and to have the potential to develop eventually his/her own lines of research.

The successful applicant will integrate an internationally-known reference center on muscle disorders, with a highly stimulating scientific and medical environment.

Applications, including a curriculum vitae and contact details for at least two referees, should be sent to:
Ana FERREIRO, MD, PhD
Phone : +33 (0)1-40 77 96 36
Fax. : +33 (0)1-53 60 08 02
ana.ferreiro@upmc.fr

http://www.myologygroup.net