MOTOR NEURON CENTER FOR BIOLOGY & DISEASE
Columbia MDA/ALS Research Center
Columbia Motor Neuron Center
Hiroshi Mitsumoto, Director
The Center provides a multidisciplinary team approach for patients with ALS and their families. Comprehensive services include access to medical and psychosocial management, innovative therapeutic clinical trials, basic and clinical research, and expertise in palliative and biomedical care.
Petra Kaufmann
Muscular dystrophies, mitochondrial myopathies, other genetic diseases of muscle
Salvatore Dimauro
Biochemical and DNA investigations of human metabolic myopathies, including disorders of glycogen metabolism, lipid metabolism, and mitochondrial function.
Eric A. Schon
Molecular genetic studies of neuromuscular disorders. Current work includes analysis of respiratory chain genes (cytochrome c oxidase), mutations of mitochondrial DNA in human disease, and in vitro gene therapy.
Michio Hirano
Molecular biology of neuromuscular disorders. Positional cloning techniques applied to autosomal disorders affecting the mitochondrial genome. Investigations of mutations of mitochondrial DNA in human cardiomyopathies.
Eduardo Bonilla
Research involving the ultrastructure of membrane systems in normal and diseased human muscle. Procedures utilized involve transmission electron microscopy, immunocytochenustry, and in situ hybridization.
Mercy Davidson
Morphological, biochemical, molecular genetic and electrophysiological analyses of mitochondrial encephalomyopathies using transmitochondrial cybrids, skeletal myoblasts, cardiomyocytes, and neuronal cells. Studies of tissue-specific effects of mutations associated with these diseases on normal development and function; and cell culture models for devising potential therapeutic strategies.
Arthur P. Hays
Morphologic studies of diabetic and other neuropathies and motor neuron diseases.
Aging, Memory & Dementia