News & Stories
See the latest news about CMT drug development and read stories from the CMT community that highlight why we must deliver treatments and cures during our lifetime.
CMT Research Foundation Launches New Research Project to Design Precision Medicine Approach for Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease
In this new CMT Research Foundation-funded project, Drs. Lorson and Garcia at the University of Missouri will develop and test a new gene therapy approach that will both silence the abnormal gene and simultaneously replace it with genetic material that will produce normal protein. The research team will test this approach in an animal model of CMT2E that is already well understood, making it suitable for this proof-of-concept project. If the approach is successful, it could potentially be used for other forms of CMT as well. In fact, it is possible this approach could be used for many CMT-causing mutations that require both silencing of a mutated gene and replacement with normal protein — whether the mutation is currently known or has yet to be discovered. The ability to silence and replace genes, regardless of the specific mutation, is what makes this a precision medicine approach.
CMT Research Foundation Announces New Research to Study Inflammation as Potential Treatment Target for Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease
The CMT Research Foundation is proud to announce a new research collaboration with renowned nerve disease expert Dr. Rudolf Martini of University Hospital Würzburg to investigate whether inhibiting inflammation in the peripheral nerves could reduce symptoms and improve outcomes for patients with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease Type 1B. Read more about this project and see the four stages in the project.
CMT Research Foundation Partner DTx Pharma Wins Grant from National Institutes of Health for CMT1A Gene Therapy Program
CMT Research Foundation partner DTx Pharma, Inc., has won a grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to further fund its work on CMT. The investment is significant because the CMT Research Foundation gave DTx its first CMT-related grant just nine months ago....
A Family’s Fight to Change Their Daughter’s Future
Eight-year-old Leonor struggles to walk, sit up straight and hold a glass of water. Other kids make fun of her because she has to wear leg braces. When Leonor was diagnosed with CMT, doctors said she’d ben in a wheelchair for life. Her family refuses to accept that fate, and so do we. There’s always something we can do. Learn how you can take action to end CMT.
A rallying cry for the CMT community: If not us, then who? If not now, then when?
By: Gary Donaldson The New York Times recently published an article about individuals living with rare genetic diseases who have become advocates for their conditions. These courageous champions are shaping research to change the course of their disease, despite the...
Reflections on a CMT Research Supporter
By Patrick Livney, Chairman of the Board Recently, I was contacted by Barton, a son of Charles G. Bentzin, who informed me of the passing of his father. Sadness aside, his reaching out touched me on two fronts. First, telling me how Charles “enjoyed talking with you...
Nothing Mild About CMT
By: Susan Ruediger, CEO, CMT Research Foundation When I talk to individuals with CMT or share my personal experience about living with the disease, the responses I hear can be heartbreaking, sometimes even infuriating. “At least you don’t have cancer.” “You don’t look...
DTx Pharma Achieves Second Milestone in Study to Advance Treatments for CMT1A
The CMT Research Foundation is pleased to announce that our partner DTx Pharma just completed the second milestone in a study we’re funding which uses their proprietary technology to suppress the overexpression of PMP22, the protein that causes CMT1A. Their work has...
Nothing Stops Innovation: Results from BIO 2020
By: Susan Ruediger, CEO, CMT Research Foundation “We’re not currently working in CMT, but we know we should be.” “We think our drug could work for CMT, but it has never been tested.” “CMT is definitely on our interest list for expansion, but we need to learn more...
Fatherhood and CMT: 10 Life Lessons from Dad
Fritz Schneider has worn many hats in his life. He has managed supermarkets, served as a deckhand on tugboats, owned a retail cleaning company, worked as a tour guide and even opened a neighborhood bar in his wife’s home country of Romania. Living with CMT is also on...