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The Pediatric Motor Disorders Research Program, under the direction of Dr. Kathryn Swoboda, is focused on a group of disorders characterized predominantly by defects in motor function, with onset in infancy or early childhood, including:
- neuromuscular disorders, including spinal muscular atrophy, congenital myopathies and neuropathies and muscular dystrophy
- neurotransmitter deficiency disorders and childhood onset dystonia
- alternating hemiplegia of childhood
Dr. Swoboda and colleagues see patients at Primary Children’s Medical Center and the Clinical Neuroscience Center at the University of Utah. The Pediatric EMG laboratory, for electrodiagnostic studies in infants and children with suspected neuromuscular disorders is located at Primary Children's Medical Center. The Neurogenetics Research Laboratory is located at the Eccles Institute of Human Genetics. The Pediatric Motor Disorders Research Program office is located in the School of Medicine Department of Neurology at the University of Utah.
Clinical faculty within the Pediatric Motor Disorders Research Program come from a variety of backgrounds, including pediatrics, neurology, genetics and neurophysiology:
- Kathryn Swoboda, MD, FACMG
- Russ Butterfield, MD, PhD
- Ai Sakonju, MD
- Matthew Sweney, MD
- Sandra P. Reyna, MD
We collaborate with clinicians and researchers at the University of Utah, across the U.S. and internationally. Our primary mission is to further advance research that will contribute to improved care and treatment interventions in pediatric patients with motor disorders from a variety of etiologies.