Karolinska Institute is a longstanding national centre for neuromuscular disorders, involving basic science and clinical research.

Thomas Sejersen is a representative for Scandinavian network for DMD and Swedish network for neuromuscular disorders in children, contributing with the most extensive state of the art document on management on DMD available in Europe. Extensive experience in multi-national collaborations on establishing evidence-based documents on management of neuromuscular disorders. The research has a particular focus on:

• clinical trials on management of neuromuscular disorders;
• search for genetic causes for neuromuscular disorders, and functional analyses of genetic aberrations detected. 

Current clinical research of relevance involves common Scandinavian long-term assessment of DMD patients, planned international corticosteroid trial, and gait analysis assessment for optimising time of neuro-orthopaedic intervention.

Karolinska Institute website

Thomas Sejersen (MD, PhD): Head of clinical and research team for neuromuscular disorders in childhood. Thomas is a pediatric neurologist with special clinical and research interest in neuromuscular disorders. He is involved in ENMC workshops on DMD and desmin-related myopathies, and also engaged in multi-center international corticosteroid trial for DMD.

Within this project Thomas is reponsible for validation procedures of the NMD-Chips, together with Clemens Muller-Reible and member of the Ethics committee.

Editor for Scandinavian concensus reference program for DMD, Thomas is a board member Swedish muscular dystrophy association and has arranged several national / scandinavian meetings on neuromuscular disorders for professionals and families. He was also part of the organising committee for World Muscle Society meeting 2004, Eur Paed Neurology Soc congress 2005.

Previous scientific secretary of board for Swedish neuropaediatric society. Representative in national and Scandinavian network for neuromuscular disorders.

Fengqing Xiang is a senior researcher and a molecular geneticist, her research projects involve molecular genetic studies on several diseases: Rett syndrome, a Huntington disease-like neurodegenerative disorder and now more focus on some new autosomal dominant myopathies.

On this project she is involved in chips validation procedures.