The Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) and Friends of FSH Research (FFSHR), based in Kirkland, has jointly awarded a two-year, $200,000 grant to Dr. Joel Chamberlain, a research assistant professor of medical genetics at the University of Washington. The grant, equally funded by the two organizations, will enable the laboratory led by Dr. Chamberlain to study RNA interference as an investigative and therapeutic tool for facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy.

Last fall, MDA and FFSHR teamed up to issue a worldwide Request for Applications (RFA) for projects targeting the identification, prioritization, and/or validation of molecular targets for potential therapies for FSH dystrophy. The goal is to stimulate a new wave of innovative FSH dystrophy research to help people affected by the progressive neuromuscular disease, which can cause weakness in the upper body, lower leg, hip or abdominal muscles; hearing loss; and retinal eyesight, heart or respiratory muscle abnormalities.

The Chamberlain project will focus on the recently discovered biological process, called RNA interference (RNAi), that cells normally use to fine-tune the levels of proteins that carry out body functions.

“We’re developing ways to harness the potential for directed RNAi to turn off production of specific proteins in muscle that are thought to cause FSH dystrophy,” explains Chamberlain. “Thanks to funding from MDA and Friends of FSH Research, we soon should be ready to target promising therapies to attack this disease.”