2018
Health Research Board Investigator Led Project 2017
Dr Dervla O’Malley, Department of Physiology and APC Microbiome Institute and Dr Mark Rae, Department of Physiology have been awarded Health Research Board Investigator Led Project funding. The funding will support Ms Kimberley Stephenson to carry out doctoral studies investigating ‘Monoclonal xIL-6R antibodies as a treatment for memory dysfunction in the mdx mouse model of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.’
The team will investigate a potential therapeutic intervention, targeting an inflammatory cytokine, to improve cognitive dysfunction related to dystrophin deficiency in a model of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. This fatal genetic disorder affects 1 in every 3,600 live male births and is characterised by lower intelligence quotients and deficits in verbal memory in addition to progressive muscle weakness.