Dr. Jeffrey S. Chamberlain, an international leader in efforts to find gene therapies for muscular dystrophy, has been recruited to the faculty of the University of Washington (UW) School of Medicine. A 1985 Ph.D. alumnus of the UW, he returned to the UW this December as a professor in the Department of Neurologys recently established Division of Neurogenetics.

"Jeff Chamberlain is doing some of the most exciting research in the world on the problem of muscular dystrophy," said Dr. Bruce Ransom, chair of the Department of Neurology.

A gift of $775,000 from the McCaw/Muscular Dystrophy Association Fund will help support his research. Bruce and Jolene McCaw earmarked the gift for this purpose through the national Muscular Dystrophy Association. Bruce McCaw was one of the founders of McCaw Cellular Communications.

The gift will foster new directions in the study of a group of genetic diseases characterized by progressive degeneration and weakness of the muscles that control movement. In some types of muscular dystrophy, the heart and other organs are affected as well.

There is no specific treatment against any form of muscular dystrophy, except for supportive measures, such as physical therapy, assistive technology and corrective surgery. Some cases are mild and progress slowly, others have rapid deterioration. If the muscles controlling breathing become too weak, death can occur. Few patients with the Duchenne form of muscular dystrophy live into the third decade of life.

Chamberlain has studied the location of the Duchenne muscular dystrophy gene in the chromosome, and the genetic expression of dystrophin, a substance needed to regulate muscles. His transgenic mice studies helped improve the understanding of the disrupted dystrophin production that underlies muscular dystrophy. These studies also showed for the first time that muscular dystrophy could be prevented and reversed by replacing the defective gene. He is currently working on developin
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Contact: Leila Gray
leilag@u.washington.edu
206-685-0381
University of Washington
16-Jan-2001