Neuromuscular Medicine Research

The Division of Neuromuscular Medicine conducts cutting-edge research into a broad spectrum of both adult and pediatric neuromuscular disorders through multidisciplinary collaborations across Columbia and beyond. 

Areas of Research

  • Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
  • Cellular/molecular/developmental neuroscience
  • Genetic basis of neurological disease
  • Investigations of mutations of mitochondrial DNA in human cardiomyopathies
  • Mitochondrial genetics and the molecular basis of human mitochondrial disease
  • Models of neurological disorders
  • Molecular biology of neuromuscular disorders
  • Neural degeneration and repair
  • Neurobiology of disease
  • Peripheral neuropathy/disease modeling
  • Positional cloning techniques applied to autosomal disorders affecting the mitochondrial genome
  • Proprioception
  • Sensory neuron specification and differentiation
  • Stem cell biology

Centers/Initiatives/Collaborations

The H. Houston Merritt Center for Neuromuscular and Mitochondrial Disorders

The H. Houston Merritt Center For Neuromuscular and Mitochondrial Disorders studies inherited myopathies, including:

  • Muscular dystrophies
  • Congenital myopathies
  • Myofibrillar myopathies
  • Metabolic myopathies

Our team specializes in the evaluation and treatment of these genetic muscle diseases, and collaborates with a number of other Columbia researchers from other departments and laboratories, including the Laboratory of Metabolic and Mitochondrial Disease. 

Visit the H. Houston Merritt Center for Neuromuscular and Mitochondrial Disorders

The Eleanor and Lou Gehrig ALS Center

The Eleanor and Lou Gehrig ALS Center leads an integrated ALS research program at Columbia University that spans basic, translational, and clinical efforts across multiple schools, departments, institutes, and centers throughout our institution.

Visit the Eleanor and Lou Gehrig ALS Center

Motor Neuron Center

Columbia's Motor Neuron Center brings brilliant scientific minds together in a common approach to currently incurable motor neuron diseases: spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) in children and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease) in adults. New discoveries in the field of motor neuron biology will fuel the search for effective therapy for patients.

Visit Columbia’s Motor Neuron Center

SMA Clinical Research Center

The Pediatric SMA Clinical Research Center operates conjointly with the Pediatric Neuromuscular Clinic at Columbia University.
Visit the Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) Clinical Research Center

Columbia Neuropathy Research Center

Columbia Neuropathy Research Center (CNRC) is committed to basic and human research designed to improve our understanding and effective treatment of peripheral and autonomic neuropathies of all types. The CNRC is funded exclusively by donor support and research grants.

Visit the Columbia Neuropathy Research Center