Jerry Mendell's Research Team Receives Award

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A team headed by neurologist Jerry Mendell, a longtime MDA research grantee and director of the MDA Clinic at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, has received the prestigious Annals of Neurology prize for an outstanding contribution to clinical neuroscience.

The award was based on Mendell's and colleagues' MDA-supported research on transfer of alpha-sarcoglycan genes to treat type 2D limb-girdle muscular dystrophy (LGMD2D). MDA is currently supporting the next phase of that research.

Mendell will co-chair an MDA-sponsored conference in March 2012 on current best practices and development of new therapies for neuromuscular disorders.

For more on Mendell's work in gene therapy, see:

• Sustained alpha-sarcoglycan gene expression after gene transfer in limb-girdle muscular dystrophy, type 2D: Scientific paper describes gene therapy for LGMD2D by Jerry Mendell and colleagues in Annals of Neurology, November 2010.

• Encouraging Results in LGMD Gene Therapy Trial: Five of six people with limb-girdle muscular dystrophy type 2D produced protein from new genes, Quest News Online, Oct. 29, 2010.

• New Grant for LGMD2D Gene Therapy: An MDA grant will move researchers toward a clinical trial involving bloodstream delivery of the alpha-sarcoglycan gene to thigh muscles, Quest News Online, Dec, 23, 2009.