From Autumn 2013 Newcastle University will be offering a Masters programme in “Neuromuscular Diseases” as one of their extensive range of one year Medical Sciences Masters in Research (www.ncl.ac.uk/biomedicine/study/postgraduate/mres/). The MRC Centre for Neuromuscular Diseases at Newcastle will be responsible for the delivery of the relevant taught module and also for the research project. The module will cover:

1. How neuromuscular diseases impact on normal muscle structure and function, including normal muscle function and physiology, and the clinical and electrophysiological manifestations of muscle dysfunction across the neuromuscular system.
2. The molecular pathology of neuromuscular diseases, including the application of next generation sequencing and the development of gene and protein based diagnostics. Students will meet patients with neuromuscular diseases.
3. The assessment of therapeutic strategies through the preclinical modelling and assessment of neuromuscular diseases using cellular and animal systems, including critical appraisal of claims of therapeutic success in the preclinical setting.
4. The state of the art of novel therapeutic strategies for neuromuscular diseases including gene and cell based therapies; understanding the targets and use of biomarkers; genetic and stem cell-based therapy for neuromuscular diseases; applications of antisense oligonucleotide technology in neuromuscular diseases; other targets for therapy development including downstream targets and protein up regulation. Moving studies into patients; the challenges of trial design in rare diseases.

The programme would particularly suit either clinical or basic scientists with a strong interest in Neuromuscular diseases aiming to undertake research in this field. Further details, including entry criteria and how to apply can be obtained from the Newcastle University website, via the ‘Apply’ button below.

Additional enquiries should be addressed to Dr Steve Laval (s.h.laval@ncl.ac.uk).