Jonathan Soslow

Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt begins treating patients with novel gene therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy

Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt’s Jonathan Soslow, MD, and Bryan Burnette, MD, recently began treating patients with a novel gene therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

New directorship holder are: (front row, from left) Jonathan Soslow, MD, MSCI; Jill Simmons, MD; Lori Jordan, MD, PhD; Janice Law, MD; Angela Jefferson, PhD; Carrie Menser, MD; Muktar Aliyu, MBBS, DrPH, MPH; Tracy Frech, MD, MSCI; Peter Embí, MD, MS, (back row, from left) Meredith Pugh, MD, MSCI; Stephen Patrick, MD, MPH, MS; Harvey Murff, MD, MPH; John Graves, PhD; Paul Sternberg Jr., MD; Joshua Robinson, OD; Fabien Maldonado, MD, MSc; Jonathan Brown, MD; Lori Ann Kehler, OD; and Julie Lounds Taylor, PhD. (photo by Donn Jones)

Directorships honor leaders, philanthropic partners

Nineteen leaders have been named as holders of directorships at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Javion Johnson, a patient at Children’s Hospital’s Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Clinic, holds a plaque designating the clinic as a Certified Care Center. Others on hand include from left, his father Ronnie Johnson, mother, Xavier Verge, brother, J’zarion Williams, Andrew Sokolow, MD, Bryan Burnette, MD, Jonathan Soslow, MD, Kali Barbalena and Haleigh Southern, RN.

Vanderbilt’s Duchenne Clinic first in Tennessee to be certified

The Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Clinic at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt has been recognized as a Certified Duchenne Care Center Program by the Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy, and is the only center in Tennessee to receive the distinction.

Cardiac dysfunction in DMD

The protein MMP7 is elevated in blood from patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy who have cardiac dysfunction, suggesting that it may be a biomarker for heart disease severity.

Muscular dystrophy clue

Vanderbilt investigators have discovered a role for immune system T cells in slowing the decline in skeletal muscle function in patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy.