In the Fall of 2015, the National Institute of Health awarded UT Southwestern one of six coveted Senator Paul D. Wellstone Muscular Dystrophy Centers in the country. Drs. Eric Olson and Pradeep Mammen co-direct the UT Southwestern Wellstone Muscular Dystrophy Cooperative Research Center. The overarching mission of the Center is to rapidly translate genome editing, a novel molecular technique capable of correcting mutations within the human genome, into a potentially viable treatment for patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD).

The Center is divided into five components:

• Administrative Core
• Project 1: Focused on the science of genome editing
• Project 2: Focused on the translational aspect of genome editing as it applies to Duchenne muscular dystrophy
• Myoediting Core
• Training Core