Welcome to the University of Kansas Neuromuscular Research Division (KU NMRD), home to a diverse slate of active NIH-sponsored studies on a wide range of neuromuscular diseases and conditions. Here are some of the areas we study.

• Motor neuron diseases
  • Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease)
  • Primary lateral sclerosis (PLS),
  • Progressive muscular atrophy (PMA)
  • Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA)
• Neuropathies
  • Diabetic neuropathy
  • Cryptogenic sensory neuropathy (CSPN)
  • Guillain-Barre syndrome
  • Chronic inflammatory demyelinating neuropathy (CIDP)
  • Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease
  • Transthyretin amyloidosis
• Muscle disorders
  • Polymyositis
  • Inclusion body myositis
  • Dermatomyositis
  • Necrotizing myopathy (including SANAM)
  • Duchenne muscular dystrophy
  • Myotonic dystrophy
  • Facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy
  • Pompe disease
• Neuromuscular junction disorders
  • Myasthenia gravis
  • Lambert-Eaton Myasthenic Syndrome

We are an active participant in numerous national consortia, including:

• Western ALS Consortium
• Northeast ALS Consortium
• ALS Research Group
• Neuromuscular Study Group

Our leadership

We are led by Mazen M. Dimachkie, M.D., a nationally and internationally recognized expert in neuromuscular disease research.

Since joining KU Medical Center in 2007, Dr. Dimachkie has been directly involved in all aspects of the KU NMRD. An experienced researcher with superior project management skills and a deep understanding of regulatory compliance requirements, he serves as the principal investigator on numerous studies and is an active participant in a variety of federally-funded neuromuscular research projects and nationally and internationally pharma-sponsored studies. His research interests include a broad range of neuromuscular disorders, including the following:

• ALS
• PLS
• SMA
• Myasthenia gravis
• Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome
• Pompe disease
• muscular dystrophies
• Myositis
• Neuropathies

Dr. Dimachkie is one of four coordinators for the International Myositis Assessment and Clinical Studies Group (IMACS), a consortium of nearly 600 clinical and basic researchers, patient support group leaders and pharma representatives from around the world. In addition to serving as director of KU Medical Center's legacy NeuroNext site, the Heartland Unit for Neuroscience Trials (HUNT), he is vice chair for research programs in the Department of Neurology and associate director of the Institute for Neurologic Discoveries.

Dr. Dimachkie also is the director of our Neuromuscular Medicine Fellowship and associate director of our Clinical Neurophysiology Fellowship.

For more information on Dr. Dimachkie's research, visit his bibliography page.

Our team

The KU NMRD team includes a number of Department of Neurology faculty, research coordinators, a clinical evaluator, and project managers. Together, we manage more than 60 active clinical trials at any given time. About half of these trials are investigator-initiated with the remainder being industry-sponsored research.

To learn more our team, visit the Our Team page.