West Perth Sponsored Muscular Dystrophy Research

Professors Steve Wilton and Sue Fletcher

The Muscular Dystrophy Rotary Appeal spearheaded by the West Perth Club was held  in 1969 in support of the Muscular Dystrophy Association of WA .The success of the appeal  lead to the establishment of the Australian Neuromuscular Research Institute ( ANRI ) in 1982, now known as the Perron Institute for Neuroscience and Translational Research.

The community of WA has benefited enormously from this through services to patients and their families with neuromuscular disorders. A carrier detection and genetic counselling program was mounted for the worst type of muscular dystrophy the Duchenne form, which is transmitted unknowingly by the mother. This program which was the first ever  applied to a full community, resulted in a two thirds reduction in the incidence of the disorder. The program was further improved by the application of DNA technology, including prenatal diagnosis, in the 1990s.

There have been a very large number of significant advances in neuromuscular disease research undertaken by institute scientists over the years including the development of a potentially curative treatment for muscular dystrophy based on Antisense Oligonucleotide bridging of the mutation underlying Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD).  This ground-breaking technique was  developed by Rotarian Steve Wilton with Sue Fletcher  and their group. This project has received many national and international awards and in September 2016 the American FDA approved the discovery as a treatment for DMD , a very significant milestone.

All of this work was initiated by the discovery by Byron Kakulas in 1960s that muscle possessed the hitherto unknown power to completely regenerate when the cause of its breakdown was removed. This momentous observation was first achieved in the Rottnest Island Quokka and it revolutionized world research in the field.

The scientific / medical potential of this discovery was recognized by the Rotary Club of West Perth when first told about it in 1967 and the benefits which have accrued since then have been far greater than may have been normally expected.

The Rotary Club of West Perth is justifiably proud of these research achievements which it has sponsored and supported for more than 40 years.

Professor Byron Kakulas and Prime Minister Bob Hawke .