Kay Davies, whose research focuses on movement and behavioral disorders pertaining to muscular dystrophy, will give the third annual Thomas D. Gelehrter Medical Genetics Lectureship. The talk will begin at 2 p.m. May 2 the Kahn Auditorium at the Biomedical Science Research Building.
The event honors Gelehrter, a medical doctor, U-M professor emeritus of human genetics and of internal medicine, and a leader in the human genetics community. Gelehrter has promoted excellence in research, education and patient care in medical genetics throughout his career, and continues to raise awareness about the importance of medical genetics.
Davies, associate head of the Division of Medical Sciences and Dr. Lee’s Professor of Anatomy at the University of Oxford, began her work with muscular dystrophy more than 20 years ago. With her research group at Oxford, her work ranges from the analysis of single gene defects to the use of genetic models which contribute to the understanding of more common diseases including ataxia, mental impairment and schizophrenia.
Davies says discovering a molecule that could potentially cure Duchenne muscular dystrophy as one of her proudest moments. DMD affects only boys, and can leave them using a wheelchair by age 12. Her research group also is seeking to identify genes in spinal muscular atrophy, a related disorder.
She is director of the Medical Research Council Functional Genomics Unit, which analyzes genomic information and applies it to clinical problems. Davies co-founded the Oxford Centre for Gene Function and also was made a Dame Commander of the British Empire in 2008, among other honors.
