Fellowship Awards

Name: Dr Yiu-Chia Chang
Research/Clinical Sites & Affiliations: University of Western Ontario, London, ON
Budget: $80,000
Disorders: All Neuromuscular Disorders
Bio: Dr Yiu-Chia Chang studied Microbiology and Immunology at McGill University. He then obtained his medical degree at University of Ottawa and matched to Western University for residency training in neurology. During his residency, he developed a keen interest in neuromuscular medicine early on and took on extra rotations in the neuromuscular clinics and EMG lab. Among different sub-specialties within the neuromuscular field, Dr Chang is particularly interested in muscle diseases. During his fellowship, he aims to expand his knowledge and skills in the management of neuromuscular diseases and electrodiagnostics, as well as to acquire expertise in muscle diseases. He also aspires to be involved in medical education, with the goal of offering well-organized curriculum in neuromuscular medicine for trainees.

Name: Dr Mark Krongold
Research/Clinical Sites & Affiliations: University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC
Budget: $80,000
Disorders: All Neuromuscular Disorders
Bio: Dr Mark Krongold completed a bachelor’s degree in Neuroscience at the University of Calgary and medical school at Western University. He is currently completing his neurology residency at the University of Manitoba. Through his experiences in neurology, he developed an interest in electrodiagnostics and neuromuscular medicine. He looks forward to pursuing a career filled with constant learning and the chance to have a positive impact on patient’s lives. With support from the National Clinical Fellowship in Neuromuscular Medicine & Electromyography he will join the University of British Columbia for training in the upcoming year.

Name: Dr Bram De Wel
Research/Clinical Sites & Affiliations: University of Calgary, Calgary, AB
Budget: $80,000
Disorders: All Neuromuscular Disorders
Bio: Dr Bram De Wel obtained his medical degree and completed his residency in neurology at the University Hospital Leuven in Belgium. During his residency, he obtained a PhD in neuromuscular diseases with a focus on advanced outcome measures in spinal muscular atrophy and muscular dystrophies. Dr De Wel will complete a neuromuscular medicine and EMG fellowship at the University of Calgary.

Name: Dr Yassine Ouhaddi
Research/Clinical Sites & Affiliations: Centre de recherche du CHU Sainte-Justine, Montreal, QC
Title of project: Using 3D human iPSC-derived skeletal muscle modelling to elucidate the molecular mechanisms and develop new therapies for satellite cell-opathies
Budget: $40,000
Disorders: All neuromuscular disorders (cross-cutting), Duchenne/Becker muscular dystrophies, Myopathy-genetic
Research Areas: Cell-based modeling and screening, diagnostic tools, tissue bioengineering
Summary of Project: Skeletal muscles are essential to many physiological functions; yet, because myopathies are rare and heterogeneous, diagnosing and treating them can be quite difficult. This project presents an innovative approach to advance the understanding of satellite cell-opathies, a unique group of illnesses that affect the function of muscle stem cells. This project will use muscle cells and 3D tissue engineering to test the effect of rare genetic variations linked to satellite cell-opathies on myogenic cell function. This project aims to provide insight into the molecular pathways underlying these disorders and pinpoint possible targets for treatment. This project not only lays the groundwork for investigating secondary satellite cell-opathies, which will advance our understanding of the role of muscle stem cells in disease progression, but it also holds potential for offering patients with satellite cell-opathies individualized therapy options.

Name: Dr Cedric Happi-Mbakam
Research/Clinical Sites & Affiliations: SickKids Hospital, Toronto, ON
Title of project: Correction of intra-exonic insertions and deletions in DMD gene using CRISPR-Cas9 technologies
Budget: $40,000
Disorders: Duchenne/Becker muscular dystrophies
Research Areas: Gene targeting therapy including gene transfer/ antisense oligonucleotides and gene editing, in vivo models, outcome measures for neuromuscular diseases
Summary of Project: Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a severe X-linked recessive disorder arising from mutations in the DMD gene, encoding the dystrophin protein. While the most common mutations involve the deletion of single or large exons, intra-exonic insertions and deletions represent approximately 3% of DMD mutations. This study will examine genetic mutations in patient myoblasts, mouse models and in vivo investigations to design and evaluate a CRISPR-Cas9 nuclease. The most efficient design will be selected and tested on a humanized mouse model. This research serves as proof of concept, and it holds promise to be adapted for other hereditary diseases sharing similar mutational profiles.