Neuromuscular Disease: About

Our Neuromuscular Disease Theme builds upon the unique, internationally-leading expertise in Newcastle to study neuromuscular disease. We are translating this into the exciting new area of sarcopenia, a long-term condition resulting from the age-related loss of skeletal muscle mass and function.

This includes mechanistic work developed within the Wellcome Trust Centre for Mitochondrial Research and the MRC/BBSRC Centre for Ageing and Vitality, use of clinical cohorts developed by the MRC Neuromuscular Centre, use of UK birth and ageing cohorts together with a new cohort of individuals in whom we shall phenotype skeletal muscle in health and disease across the life course (Sayer), and the development of new therapeutics and trial designs for skeletal muscle long-term conditions.

The theme is led by Dr Grainne Gorman, who is a Senior Clinical Lecturer in the Institute of Translational and Clinical Research at Newcastle University and a Consultant Neurologist with the Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, with a particular interest in neuromuscular diseases. Dr Gorman also leads the Newcastle Mito Hub, part of the Wellcome Centre for Mitochondrial Research at Newcastle University and the Newcastle Hospitals Trust, which is growing to become the clinical platform for therapeutic interventions in mitochondrial medicine research.

Deputy Theme Lead Volker Straub is Professor of Neuromuscular Genetics at Newcastle University and Director of the John Walton Muscular Dystrophy Research Centre.