UC Davis Receives 2023 Clinical Research Excellence Award

(SACREMENTO)

UC Davis is pleased to announce that Chair of the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Craig McDonald and his team will be honored with the Top Ten Achievement in Clinical Research Award in 2023. The award is presented by the Clinical Research Forum. This is recognition of McDonald’s outstanding work in developing stem cell therapies to treat the most severe patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). This rare genetic disease causes muscle loss and physical impairment in young people and leads to premature death.

McDonald is the National Principal Investigator of the HOPE-2 multicenter, double-blind, randomized trial.

“We are honored to receive this prestigious award for our work on a promising new therapy for patients with advanced DMD,” said McDonald, Professor of Pediatrics, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. “Our HOPE-2 clinical study showed a significant and unprecedented stabilization of hand skeletal muscle deterioration and cardiomyopathy affecting the heart in patients with DMD who are unable to walk.”

HOPE-2 is the result of a collaboration with Capricor Therapeutics and the Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where preclinical cell therapy studies have been conducted.

Eligibility Criteria for the Top 10 Clinical Research Achievement Award

The Top Ten Clinical Research Achievement award recognizes groundbreaking clinical research achievement across the United States. The Clinical Research Forum jury selects the top 10 recipients of the award from clinical studies published in peer-reviewed journals in 2022. The choice is based on:

  • the degree of innovation and novelty associated with the development of science,
  • contribution to the understanding of disease or human physiology
  • potential impact on the diagnosis, prevention, or treatment of a disease

An award-winning McDonald’s article on the HOPE-2 study was published in Lancet.

Clinical trials offer hope for patients with DMD

middle-aged doctor with short whitish-gray hair, glasses and a white coat
Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Craig McDonald

UC Davis Health Associate Dean for Research Kim E. Barrett nominated McDonald for this award.

“We were delighted to nominate Dr. McDonald for this recognition and are thrilled to learn that he has been selected as a Top 10 Clinical Research Laureate,” said Barrett, UC Davis Distinguished Professor of Physiology and Membrane Biology. “His work is critical to the treatment of patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy and is an excellent example of the scale of research conducted at UC Davis Health.”

Intravenous cell therapy uses cells derived from the cardiosphere. It represents an exciting and innovative approach to stabilizing upper limb and cardiac function in patients with the most severe form of DMD. Because it targets the later stages of the disease, it can significantly impact the quality of life of boys and young men with DMD and ease the burden of caring for their families.

“I’d like to thank Dr. Barrett for the nomination and acknowledge my partners at UC Davis and many other institutions who collaborated on this groundbreaking clinical trial,” McDonald said. “Special thanks to the patients and their families, my co-authors on this study, and the wonderful teams at the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Neuromuscular Research Program and UC Davis Alpha Stem Cell Clinic. We have also received important support from Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy, the leading advocacy group for DMD patients and their families.”

About the Clinical Research Forum and Top 10 Clinical Research Awards

The Clinical Research Forum promotes understanding and support for clinical research and its impact on health and healthcare.

“The Top 10 Clinical Research Achievement Awards honor and recognize innovation, tireless effort, and the tremendous contributions that clinical researchers and advocates have made to the health and well-being of mankind,” said Harry P. Selker, Chair of the Clinical Research Forum and Dean of the University. Tufts Institute for Clinical and Translational Research at Tufts University. “We congratulate the 2023 winners on their outstanding efforts.”

This year’s top 10 awards will be presented on April 17 in Washington DC.

Similar stories:

Content Source

California Press News – Latest News:
Los Angeles Local News || Bay Area Local News || California News || Lifestyle News || National news || Travel News || Health News

Related Articles

Back to top button