In January, the Tapscott Lab attended the 15th Annual Friends of FSH Research Gala.

In January, Suja Jagannathan's paper on post-transcriptional gene regulation in DUX4-expressing cells was published in eLife: Quantitative proteomics reveals key roles for post-transcriptional gene regulation in the molecular pathology of facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy.

In November, Danielle Hamm joined the lab as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow. Welcome, Danielle!

Congratulations to Rebecca Resnick on defending her PhD on October 22nd! Rebecca will stay in the lab for a few more months before moving on to complete her MD training as part of UW's Medical Scientist Training Program.

In October, our multi-center collaboration through the Seattle Paul D. Wellstone Muscular Dystrophy Cooperative Research Center published a paper in Human Molecular Genetics: MRI-informed muscle biopsies correlate MRI with pathology and DUX4 target gene expression in FSHD.

In September, Stephen was appointed to lead a new, multidisciplinary Developmental Oncology Program at Fred Hutch. Congratulations, Stephen!

In September, our Postdoc, Yosuke Hiramuki, joined the lab of Peter and Takako Jones to continue his postdoctoral work on SMCHD1 and FSHD. Congrats, Yosuke!

Congratulations to Sean Shadle on defending his PhD on September 28th! Sean will be moving to Salt Lake City, Utah for a post-doc in Brad Cairns' lab.

In August, Yosuke Hiramuki's paper on SMCHD1 was published in Skeletal Muscle: Identification of SMCHD1 domains for nuclear localization, homo-dimerization, and protein cleavage.

This summer, Dr. Susanne Dietrich is visiting on a sabbatical from the University of Portsmouth, to share techniques and expertise with the lab. Welcome, Susanne!

In June, Nick Sutliff joined the lab as a Research Technician. Welcome, Nick!

In June, Amy Campbell received FSH Society's 2018 Young Investgator Award. Congratulations, Amy!

In June, Amy Spens and Andrew Smith, graduate students in the University of Washington's  Molecular and Cellular Biology Program, joined the lab. Welcome, Andrew and Amy!

In May, Jongwon Lim's paper was published in Human Molecular Genetics: Small noncoding RNAs in FSHD2 muscle cells reveal both DUX4- and SMCHD1-specific signatures.

In May, our Research Technician, Andrea Belleville, departed the lab to start the Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) at the University of Washington. Best wishes, Andrea!

In May, Stephen Tapscott and Amy Campbell were awarded funds from Friends of FSH Research and the Chris Carrino Foundation to further conduct research on FSHD and to train new investigators.

In April, our review on FSHD was published in Human Molecular Genetics. 

In April, Jessica Kumar joined the lab as a Research Technician. Welcome, Jessica!

In March, Amy Campbell's paper on regulators of the D4Z4 was published in eLife: NuRD and CAF-1-mediated silencing of the D4Z4 array is modulated by DUX4-induced MBD3L proteins.

In March, our Postdoc, Jongwon Lim, joined Universal Cells as Scientist II. Congratulations, Jongwon!

In December, our Postdoc, Suja Jagannathan, left the lab to start her own lab in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. Congratulations, Professor Jagannathan!

Photos from the 14th Annual Friends of FSH Research Gala.

In November, our collaboration with the van der Maarel lab characterizing the 4qA161L allele was published in European Journal of Human Genetics.

In November, our Postdoc, Ashlee Langford, joined the Fred Hutch Institutional Review Department as IACUC Assistant/Post Approval Monitor. Congratulations, Ashlee!

In September, Amy Campbell's paper on compounds that inhibit DUX4 was published in Skeletal Muscle.

In September, our Grad Student, Rebecca Resnick, was awarded an F31 - Individual NRSA for MD/PhD students Fellowship from NINDS to study DUX4-induced histones. Congratulations, Rebecca!

In June, our Senior Research Technician, Jun Wen Zhong, left the lab to join Xealth as a Product Manager. Congrats, Jun!

In June, our collaboration with the van der Maarel lab on the global effects of SMCHD1 mutation on DNA methylation was published in Skeletal Muscle.

In May, our Grad Student Jenn Whiddon's paper comparing DUX4 and mouse DUX was published in Nature Genetics.

Congratulations to Jenn Whiddon on defending her PhD on December 2nd! After a few more months in the lab, Jenn will be moving back to her native Texas to pursue her post-PhD endeavors.

In February, our Postdoc, Melissa Conerly, joined OncoResponse as a Scientist in Immune-Oncology. Congrats, Melissa!

This winter, our Staff Scientist, Laurie Snider, retired, but will stay onboard part-time for special projects. So glad we'll still see you around, Laurie!

In March our Grad Student Sean Shadle’s paper on genes and pathways necessary for DUX4-mediated cell death was published in PLoS Genetics.

In Sept., Amy Campbell, PhD was awarded a fellowship on the Chromosome Metabolism and Cancer Training Grant at Fred Hutch to study DUX4 as a regulator of pluripotency in cancer. 

Yosuke Hiramuki, PhD was awarded a three-year fellowship in 2015 from FSH Society to determine the effectiveness of increased SMCHD1 expression to suppress DUX4 in FSHD muscle cells and model mice.

Sujatha Jagannathan, PhD has been awarded a three-year fellowship by FSH Society to study the novel role for reduced RNA quality control in FSHD pathogenesis. Suja is co-mentored by Stephen Tapscott, MD, PhD and Robert Bradley, PhD at Fred Hutch.

Jenn Whiddon received a prestigious three year graduate research fellowship from the National Science Foundation in 2013.

Sean Shadle was selected to receive the Cell and Molecular Biology Training Grant at the University of Washington in 2015.

Jong-Won Lim, PhD was awarded a three-year fellowship by Friends of FSH Research in 2013 to study epigenetic silencing of the 4qD4Z4 repeat array in FSHD.

Rebecca Resnick was selected to receive the Genome Training Grant at the University of Washington in 2016.

Fred Hutch neurologist and researcher to provide advice on policy issues

Dr. Tapscott has been appointed to the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) advisory council. 

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center partners with GlaxoSmithKline to develop muscular dystrophy therapeutics

The goal of the new agreement is to develop a small-molecule-based medicine to potentially reverse facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy, or FSHD, by inhibiting the activity of a protein that is incorrectly expressed by the DUX4 gene in people with the disease. learn more

An international team of researchers has made a critical advance in determining the cause of a common form of muscular dystrophy.

The findings, published in the Aug. 20 issue of Science, shed new light on how a genetic mutation identified nearly 20 years ago causes the disease. The mutation is associated with the majority of FSHD cases, which affects some 300,000 people worldwide. learn more

Four Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center teams win Hartwell Innovation Fund awards

Each team of scientists will receive $80,000 grants to jump-start innovative and high-risk, high-reward research opportunities.

Dr. Stanley Riddell, Clinical Research, and Dr. Stephen Tapscott, Human Biology, will ask whether DUX4 expression in antigen presenting cells can induce T-cells to recognize CT antigens and mount an immune response against cells bearing those antigens. This approach could lead to a universal cancer vaccine capable of targeting multiple different types of cancer. more

Tapscott Lab plasmids are available on Addgene