Launched in November 2014, the Centre brings together and consolidates Newcastle's distinguished, international and world-leading record in research and care for neuromuscular diseases.
Our team, based at the Institute of Translational and Clinical Research, Newcastle University, and its associated hospitals, work together towards the development and application of genomic and translational medicine to improve the health outcomes of people living with neuromuscular diseases.
As a group we have developed a close and important link between research and clinical activities, and we actively pursue new partnerships with other stakeholders such as patient organisations, regulators and pharma.
The John Walton Muscular Dystrophy Research Centre (JWMDRC) is structured around four important Strands of activity; Clinical Care & Diagnostics, Clinical Research, Laboratory Research and Networking & Collaborations. All are strongly interlinked and the work across these teams is key to our success and impact in the neuromuscular field.
We are immensely proud to have continued to build, shape and develop this Centre's team of international experts and to be leading them now under the auspicious name of Lord John Walton, who first established a dedicated and integrated neuromuscular clinical and research unit at Newcastle Upon Tyne in the 1950s.
Newcastle has a long history as a centre of international excellence in muscle disease diagnosis, care and research.
First established as the Muscular Dystrophy Laboratories at Newcastle General Hospital, the team here has grown over the years and now comprises a group of experts across many fields within muscular dystrophy who together form the John Walton Muscular Dystrophy Research Centre.
Whilst we are structured around four core areas of clinical care & diagnostics, basic research, clinical research and networks & collaborations it is the significant and important level of collaboration and linkage between these areas that is responsible for the success of the team as a whole.
One of the great strengths of the Centre is its multidisciplinary and cooperative approach, both within the team at Newcastle and with other leading experts around the world.
Genetic neuromuscular disease includes some very rare conditions and it is through establishing these partnerships that the biggest strides towards improving diagnosis, care and treatment for patients can be made.
The John Walton Muscular Dystrophy Research Centre team are members of the MRC Centre for Neuromuscular Diseases, a joint enterprise between University College London and Newcastle promoting translational research in neuromuscular diseases. The MRC Centre is a major source of support for activity in Newcastle, including the MRC Centre Biobank and for activities in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). It also funds several PhD and clinical students in various disease areas.
In addition to this the team has, in the past five years, trained more than 20 visitors from five continents. Thanks to extensive international networking, in recent years the Centre has also become recognised for its leadership in the rare disease field more broadly and has become part of major global rare disease initiatives including the Global Alliance for Genomics and Health and the International Rare Diseases Research Consortium.
Professor Volker Straub leads the John Walton Muscular Dystrophy Research Centre and holds a joint appointment between Newcastle University and the NHS. With over 300 publications, Volker’s time is split between research and clinical commitments, all of which have a focus on neuromuscular disease whilst providing leadership across the five strands of the Centre.
Latest Publications
FILIP1-associated neuromuscular disorder and phenotypic blending due to paternal UPD6
Laura M Watts, David J Bunyan, Edoardo Giacopuzzi, Susan Walker, Gabriella Gazdagh, N Simon Thomas, Volker Straub, Anne-Marie Childs, Joan Forsyth, Julie Vogt, Shagufta Khan, Tracey A Willis, Jenny C Taylor, Alistair T Pagnamenta
A Titin Truncating Variant Causing a Dominant Myopathy With Cardiac Involvement in a Large Family: The Exception That Proves the Rule
Neurology Genetics 2024 Aug 12;10(5):e200185. doi: 10.1212/NXG.0000000000200185. eCollection 2024 Oct.
Kristl G Claeys, Marco Savarese, Per Harald Jonson, Veerle Goosens, Ana Topf, Anna Vihola, Volker Straub, Bjarne Udd
Heterozygous loss-of-function variants in SPTAN1 cause a novel early childhood onset distal myopathy with chronic neurogenic features
Jonathan De Winter, Liedewei Van de Vondel, Biljana Ermanoska, Alice Monticelli, Arnaud Isapof, Enzo Cohen, Tanya Stojkovic, Peter Hackman, Mridul Johari, Johanna Palmio, Megan A Waldrop, Alayne P Meyer, Stefan Nicolau, Kevin M Flanigan, Ana Töpf, Jordi Diaz-Manera, Volker Straub, Cheryl Longman, Catherine A McWilliam, Rotem Orbach, Sumit Verma, Regina Laine, Sandra Donkervoort, Carsten G Bonnemann, Adriana Rebelo, Stephan Züchner, Tiffany Grider, Michael E Shy, Isabelle Maystadt, Florence Demurger, Anita Cairns, Sarah Beecroft, Chiara Folland, Willem De Ridder, Gina Ravenscroft, Gisèle Bonne, Bjarne Udd, Jonathan Baets
Increased frequency of repeat expansion mutations across different populations
Nature Medicine 2024 Oct 1. doi: 10.1038/s41591-024-03190-5. Online ahead of print.
Kristina Ibañez, Bharati Jadhav, Matteo Zanovello, Delia Gagliardi, Christopher Clarkson, Stefano Facchini, Paras Garg, Alejandro Martin-Trujillo, Scott J Gies, Valentina Galassi Deforie, Anupriya Dalmia, Davina J Hensman Moss, Jana Vandrovcova, Clarissa Rocca, Loukas Moutsianas, Chiara Marini-Bettolo, Helen Walker, Chris Turner, Maryam Shoai, Jeffrey D Long, Pietro Fratta, Douglas R Langbehn, Sarah J Tabrizi, Mark J Caulfield, Andrea Cortese, Valentina Escott-Price, John Hardy, Henry Houlden, Andrew J Sharp, Arianna Tucci
Elevated VCP ATPase Activity Correlates With Disease Onset in Multisystem Proteinopathy-1
Sarah E Robinson, Andrew R Findlay, Shan Li, Feng Wang, Marianela Schiava, Jil Daw, Jordi Diaz-Manera, Tsui-Fen Chou, Conrad C Weihl
Reductions in functional muscle mass and ability to ambulate in Duchenne muscular dystrophy from ages 4 to 24 years
The Journal of Physiology 2024 Oct;602(19):4929-4939. doi: 10.1113/JP287069. Epub 2024 Aug 31.
William J Evans, Marc Hellerstein, Russell J Butterfield, Edward Smith, Michela Guglieri, Natalie Katz, Brittany Nave, Lauren Branigan, Stephanie Thera, Kalista L Vordos, Laura Behar, Marianela Schiava, Meredith K James, Tyler Field, Hussein Mohammed, Mahalakshmi Shankaran
John Walton
Lord Walton’s contribution to the field of muscle disease research and patient care is enormous. He was a leading figure in the field for over 50 years and trained many of the current leaders in the neuromuscular field.
Born locally in Rowlands Gill, John Walton qualified from Newcastle Medical School in 1945, then part of the University of Durham. In 1959 he co-founded the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign, now known as Muscular Dystrophy UK, of which he was Honorary Life President. He went on to become both a Consultant Neurologist and Professor of Neurology at Newcastle, and from 1971-1981 was Dean of Medicine at the University.
John Walton’s work in the 1950s was a milestone in the classification and description of muscular dystrophies as different entities. His landmark paper with Professor Nattrass in 1954 changed the research and diagnostic landscape for muscle disease.
It was John Walton’s pioneering work that saw his department at Newcastle first become recognised as a leader in neuromuscular disorders and established it as the internationally acclaimed centre for muscle disease research that it is today.
John Walton was awarded a Life Peerage, becoming Lord Walton of Detchant in 1989.
Sadly, Lord Walton passed away in April 2016.
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