A PROFESSOR studying muscular dystrophy has urged people to sign up for a run raising money for research into the condition.

This year’s Oxford Town and Gown 10km run is set to take place in Oxford city centre on Sunday, May 16.

It is hoped the event will raise in the region of £100,000 for the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign – bringing the total raised since the run first started in 1982 past the £1m mark.

Prof Dame Kay Davies has seen first hand the way runners’ generosity can benefit important research into the degenerative muscle-wasting disease.

Last year, she received £60,000 from the charity to investigate potential therapies for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, which affects about 2,400 young men in the UK.

Muscular dystrophy is a disease which gradually affects all the muscles, and is usually diagnosed in children aged between three and five when they have difficulty climbing stairs.

It spreads to the legs and arms and sufferers usually die in their 20s after their respiratory muscles fail.

The professor has been working to improve the use of a molecular ‘patch’ which covers the faulty part of the gene responsible for the disease, allowing the muscle to produce proteins missing in people with the condition.

Prof Davies said: “For the first time in 30 years I have been working in this field, we can see a real possibility of finding an effective treatment.

“I have not been able to say that before.

“This is a very important time and the people who are running and raising money are facilitating that final step of the journey.

“I would encourage everyone to sign up and get as many sponsors as they can.”

She added: “It has never been more exciting to be working in research in this field because of the opportunities.

“There have been huge breakthroughs in technology.”

She said the money from organisations like the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign was crucial because it helped attract further funding.

The organisation also acts as a vital link between people fighting the condition in the lab and young people for whom muscular dystrophy is a day-to-day struggle.

Prof Davies, who has run the Town and Gown and always watches the race, said: “I have young people in my group who have never seen muscular dystrophy so it is very beneficial for them to go to meetings with the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign and actually meet people with the condition.

“It’s also an opportunity for patients and their families to ask questions about how we are getting on with our research, and making sure patients can be registered into clinical trials.”

The charity is hoping to sign up 4,000 runners and so far more than 2,600 have registered to take part.

  • To enter, visit muscular-dystrophy.org /oxfordtownandgown