We are looking for an enthusiastic Paediatrician or Paediatric Neurologist with a strong research interest who wishes to pursue an Higher Degree. This study will be funded by the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign Central Grant to the Hammersmith Hospital Neuromuscular Centre. Funds are available from Summer 2001 onwards. They are inherited asautosomal recessive conditions. Patients present muscle weakness and hypotonia at birth, or within the first six months of life.
Motor development is delayed and contractures are common.
The progression of the disease is variable and a proportion of patients never achieve independent ambulation. The primary defect responsible for the majority of children with CMD is not known. The project will be under the direct supervision of a postodoctoral research fellow and of the Head of the group, Professor Francesco Muntoni. The Neuromuscular Unit The Neuromuscular Unit in the Department of Paediatrics is a leading institution in the field of assessment, diagnosis and management of neuromuscular disorders in childhood. The Unit has its own laboratories where muscle biopsies are processed and reviewed.