Research into myasthenia gravis (MG) will be boosted by an 18-month MAHSC Neuroscience Clinical Fellowship awarded to NCA Consultant Neurologist, Dr Katherine Dodd.
She hopes to enable more research in this rare autoimmune condition through collaborative working as part of the newly established Manchester Neuromuscular Research Group. The long-term condition causes muscle weakness and most commonly affects the muscles that control the eyes and eyelids, facial expressions, chewing, swallowing and speaking. But it can affect most parts of the body.
Biobank collections within the Northern Care Alliance Research Collection and Manchester Cancer Research Centre are being established to facilitate laboratory work to explore biomarkers of disease, as well as better understand disease mechanisms. This will build upon her previous immune profiling work, completed as part of a PhD, which found distinct immune changes in those with myasthenia refractory to standard treatments.
Alongside laboratory projects, she is also leading on a suite of Cochrane Systematic Reviews for different treatment options for myasthenia, including rituximab, neonatal Fc receptor inhibitors, and complement inhibitors.
Recruitment has also begun into the newly established national MG database.
Additionally, having previously complete the NIHR Associate PI programme, Dr Dodd will now be the local Principal Investigator for an upcoming clinical trial in MG at Salford Royal, examining a type of chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy (DESCARTES-08).
She said: “I see on a weekly basis the difficulties faced by those with this condition. I hope that this fellowship will provide a springboard towards increased research funding in this often-overlooked disease.”
The Manchester Neuromuscular Research Group has been established to promote neuromuscular research in the Greater Manchester area. The team are planning a collaborative research meeting on 12 November to build links with academics in the region. Anyone interested can register at https://neuromuscular.mccn.ac/mnrg2025/.
The group brings together research-active consultant neurologists and allied health professionals with special interest in neuromuscular conditions based at Manchester Centre for Clinical Neuroscience at Salford Royal. The group is headed by Dr James Lilleker (muscle lead, 4th left in main picture), Dr Katherine Dodd (neuromuscular junction lead, 3rd left in main picture), and Dr Ryan Keh (peripheral nerve lead, 5th left in main picture).