A national spinal muscular atrophy registry for real world evidence

One of NMD4C’s many important initiatives is the development of neuromuscular disease (NMD) patient registries. Patient registries collect information about individuals who are affected by a particular condition and are a particularly important research and networking tool for rare diseases. The data collected may be used for a range of purposes, from research into specific features of the disease to clinical trial feasibility planning and recruitment. Patients who join registries can be contacted with information relevant to their condition and notified when they may be eligible for research studies and clinical trials.

NMD4C works closely with the Canadian Neuromuscular Disease Registry (CNDR), a Canada-wide registry of people diagnosed with an NMD. It collects important medical information from patients across the country to improve the understanding of NMD and accelerate the development of new therapies. Over 4500 NMD patients have registered from across Canada since the CNDR’s launch in 2010. With their data, the CNDR has facilitated 35 trials and 75 data inquiries and research projects.

Recently, the CNDR undertook an iterative multi-stakeholder process to expand its spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) dataset to capture items relevant to patient outcomes in the use of the new therapies such as nusinursen (Spinraza). This will serve as a longitudinal, prospective, multi-centre, observational study of patients with SMA in Canada designed to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of novel therapies and provide practical information unattainable in trials. In the development of this new dataset, the team also aimed to standardize outcome measures across the network and the broader Canadian community, and to align its measures with global datasets to facilitate collaboration. The data collected with this expanded dataset will be essential to inform improvements in care and access to therapy for all SMA patients.

Click here to read more about this project

Many NMD4C investigators and members were on the team involved in expanding the CNDR’s SMA dataset:

NMD4C steering committee involved in the project:

NMD4C investigators involved in the project:

NMD4C collaborators involved in the project:

NMD4C members involved in the project:

  • Nicolas Chrestian
  • Susan Dojeiji
  • Nicolas Dupré
  • Hernan Gonorazky
  • Aaron Izenberg
  • Alier Marerro
  • Anna McCormick
  • Gerald Pfeffer
  • Stephanie Plamondon
  • Xavier Rodrigue
  • Jordan Sheriko
Annotation 2020-07-03 092543

Read next...

2024 Dr David Green Award winners from MDC

NMD4C Receive Excellence in Service Delivery Award and Network Investigators Honored as part of Muscular Dystrophy Canada’s 2024 Dr David Green Awards

We are excited to share that the NMD4C has been awarded the Excellence in Service Delivery Award, one of the annual Dr David Green Awards presented by Muscular Dystrophy Canada.

NMD4C logo with text reading 'Canadian neuromuscular clinical trials network', MDC and IMHA logos at bottom.

NMD4C Launch Canadian Neuromuscular Clinical Trial Network

We are thrilled to announce the launch of a Canadian neuromuscular clinical trial network (CTN) as a part of our clinical research work.

Event organizers and participants from SMA outcome measures training, March 2024 in Quebec.

Training Session for Physiotherapists and Occupational Therapists on Outcome Measures in Spinal muscular atrophy hosted by Quebec SMA Network

This past March 23, the Quebec SMA Network (Réseau québécois de l’amyotrophie spinale – RQAS) in collaboration with the NMD4C and Muscular Dystrophy Canada (MDC) hosted an interactive training session for French-speaking physiotherapists and occupational therapists on assessment measures and practices for Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). This training gathered clinicians to train and discuss SMA standardized outcome measures and work through current problems/challenges, to improve how these measures often tied to drug reimbursement are conducted. 

MDC award $900 000 towards clinical and translational research projects in 2024.

MDC Announce Recipients of 2024 Neuromuscular Clinical and Translational Research Grants

Muscular Dystrophy Canada (MDC) recently announced the recipients of its annual Neuromuscular Research Grants competition. Through these grants, MDC is investing $900,000 into clinical and translational research projects.

SMA outcome measures training graphic

SMA Outcome Measures Training for Physiotherapists and Occupational Therapists

To support the development and training on validated NMD outcome measures we are pleased to provide opportunities for physiotherapists and occupational therapists to attend training sessions for outcome measures.

Congratulations to the 2024 early career award winners. Dr Mireille Khacho and Dr Jean-Philippe Leduc Gaudet.

Congratulations to the 2024 NMD4C Early Career Awards Recipients

We are excited to announce the recipients of the 2024 NMD4C Early Career Awards! This is the second year of our annual award program, celebrating excellence and contribution to the neuromuscular field from early career investigators across both clinical and basic science streams.