MDA Lauds NINDS’s Bönnemann

Dr. Carsten Bönnemann, chief of the neuromuscular and neurogenetic disorders of childhood section (NNDCS) in NINDS’s Intramural Neurogenetics Branch, recently received the first-ever Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) Legacy Award for Achievement in Clinical Research.

The award, which recognizes outstanding accomplishments in neuromuscular disease research or care, was presented Mar. 14 at the opening ceremony of the 2022 MDA Clinical and Scientific Conference in Nashville.

Bönnemann was honored for his contributions to the field of neuromuscular disease research including (but not limited to):

• Identifying genetic causes of limb girdle muscular dystrophies
• Clarifying molecular pathways and developing preclinical models for congenital muscular dystrophies
• Using next-generation genomic technologies for new gene discoveries in children with complex neuromuscular and neurogenetic conditions
• Establishing natural history and outcome measures for use in clinical trials for congenital myopathies
• Conducting the first intrathecal adeno-associated viral vector gene therapy trial for giant axonal neuropathy in humans

Bönnemann earned his medical degree from Freiburg University in Germany. He completed his residency in pediatric neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital of Harvard Medical School and postdoctoral work at Children’s Hospital in Boston with Dr. Louis Kunkel, working on the molecular genetics of muscular dystrophy. 

Before coming to NIH, Bönnemann was co-director of the Neuromuscular Program and director of the Neurogenetics Clinic at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia on the University of Pennsylvania campus, where he continues to serve as adjunct professor of neurology. He joined NINDS as NNDCS chief in 2010. 

Bönnemann’s current work focuses on identifying the genetic and cellular mechanisms of early-onset muscle and nerve diseases in order to develop gene and transcript directed treatment strategies for them.