Amanda Ignatti: Strengthening neuromuscular disease research through NIH award
The National Institutes of Health awarded the University of Maine Ph.D. Candidate Amanda Ignatti received the Dr. Ruth L. Kirschstein Early Individual National Research Service Award for her research on neuromuscular diseases.
This national award recognizes and invests in pre-doctoral students by supporting them to receive research training while conducting their dissertation research.
Enrolled in the Biomedical Sciences Program in the School of Biomedical Sciences and Engineering and advised by Clarissa Henry, director of the Center for Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE), Ignatti’s research focuses on dystoglycanosis, a rare form of neuromuscular disease. The focus is on the zebrafish model of pachy.
Her own interest in neuromuscular diseases and their progression was sparked by the loss of her younger brother, who died from complications of Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
Through her research, she hopes to identify the mechanisms of neuromuscular disease progression and contribute to the development of treatments that can improve the lives and outcomes of people diagnosed with neuromuscular diseases.
While the award recognizes Ignatti’s potential as a researcher, it also helps fund training opportunities and attendance at conferences such as the Gordon Research Conference and the Muscular Dystrophy Association Clinical Research Conference.
Read the full article by Daniel Timmerman on the UMaine Research News website.
