The Paul D. Wellstone Muscular Dystrophy Research Centers are hosted at various research institutions throughout the United States. Each of these Centers specialize in research into certain forms of or treatments for muscular dystrophy. There are currently six funded research centers.
Currently Funded Centers
Nationwide Children’s Hospital Research Institute (Columbus, OH)
Grant number: 1 P50 HD117373-01A1
Investigates the development of patient-derived reagents for the testing of new therapies intended to create the next generation of treatments beyond microdystrophin gene therapy.
Partner institution: Ohio State University
University of Florida/UCLA/Northwestern
Grant number: P50AR052646
Explores the roles of inflammation, fibrosis, and fat in muscular dystrophy with the goal of developing clinically useful pharmacological means of inhibiting fibrosis.
Partner institutions: UCLA and Northwestern University
University of Florida/Rochester
Grant number: P50 NS132955
Studies how myotonic dystrophy develops and progresses with the goal of finding potential therapies for this disease.
University of Iowa
Grant number: P50NS053672
Explores therapeutic strategies for the treatment of various muscular dystrophies arising from the abnormal processing of dystroglycan (dystroglycanopathies).
University of Washington (Seattle, WA) and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Grant number: P50AR065139
Supports preclinical and clinical studies of Duchenne muscular dystrophy and facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy.
Partner institutions: Seattle Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center, University of Rochester, University of Washington, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle Children’s Hospital, University of Rochester, University of Kansas, and University of Nevada.
UT Southwestern Medical Center
Grant number: P50HD087351
Investigates whether a technique called myoediting could be a successful approach for treating Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
Previously Funded Centers
Children’s National Medical Center
When this Center’s funding ended in 2010, researchers were studying genetic and cellular factors that contribute to the progression of Duchenne muscular dystrophy and patient responses to treatment.
Partner institution: The Cooperative International Neuromuscular Research Group (CINRG)
University of Massachusetts (Worcester, MA) and Children’s Hospital (Boston, MA)
When this Center’s funding ended in 2024, researchers were studying the molecular, genetic, and epigenetic pathologies of facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy in order to develop potential therapies that could be tested clinically.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
When this Center’s funding ended in 2013, researchers were developing and testing cell- and gene-based approaches to correct the molecular defects underlying Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
Partner institution: University of Wisconsin-Madison
University of Pittsburgh
When this Center’s funding ended in 2009, researchers were developing cell- and gene-based approaches to correct the molecular defects underlying Duchenne muscular dystrophy and limb-girdle muscular dystrophies.