(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) — With the renewal of a $4 million grant, the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation has reached an impressive milestone. The grant - renewed for more than 26 years- is the longest continuously funded grant within the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research of the U.S. Department of Education.

“This grant will enable UC Davis to continue to be a national leader in clinical neuromuscular disease management and the preeminent rehabilitation research center focused on neuromuscular diseases in the United States,” said Craig McDonald, professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation and director of the Rehabilitation and Research Center in Neuromuscular Diseases at UC Davis.

“We have been the world’s primary resource in the development and evaluation of muscular dystrophy clinical trial outcome measures,” McDonald continued. “Many of these measures are currently used by centers throughout the world for international clinical trials as we evaluate the tremendous recent advances in therapeutics for patients with muscular dystrophy.”

McDonald has been the grant’s principal investigator and the director of the Rehabilitation and Research Center in Neuromuscular Diseases for the past 11 years. The program’s goal is enhancing the health and wellness of individuals with neuromuscular diseases like muscular dystrophy. The funds support center programs including:

•Development and testing of improved outcome measure for use in intervention and natural history studies in persons with neuromuscular diseases;
•Providing training, including graduate training, to help rehabilitation personnel effectively provide rehabilitation services to individuals with neuromuscular diseases;
•Serving as a center of national excellence in rehabilitation research for individuals with disabilities and their providers.

UC Davis School of Medicine is among the nation's leading medical schools, recognized for its specialty-and primary-care programs.The school offers combined medical and master's degree programs in public health, business administration, and rural health, as well as a combined medical and doctoral degree for physician scientists interested in addressing specific scientific, social, ethical and political challenges of health care. Along with being a leader in health-care research, the school is known for its commitment to people from underserved communities and a passion for clinical care. For more information, visit UC Davis School of Medicine.