SDMRC - Mission Statement

The San Diego Skeletal Muscle Research Center (SDMRC) is composed of scientists interested in all aspects of muscle research, who span five research institutions and nine academic Departments. It is part of the UCSD Center for Musculoskeletal Research (CMSR) at the Institute of Engineering in Medicine (IEM), whose goal is to translate creative ideas into clinical medicine and novel products that will transform patient care and improve the health and well-being. The mission of the SDMRC is twofold: to provide investigators with an effecfive infrastructure and environment to accelerate their cutting-edge research in an efficient and cost-effective manner, and to provide an organizational structure that enhances communication amongst members and provides education and training for the San Diego community. Our goal is to maximize interchange among muscle researchers and to attract excellent non-muscle scientists into this discipline. The SDMRC is located in San Diego and spans five outstanding institutions: The Salk Institute (SALK), The Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute (SBMRI), San Diego State University (SDSU), The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) and the University of California San Diego (UCSD). There is no denser collection of excellent scientists in such proximity. The scientific disciplines of the Center investigators are diverse; yet all investigators have common interest in the structural and functional properties of skeletal muscle. The SDMRC enables scientists to leverage their diverse technologies and experimental approaches to address fundamental questions in muscle biology and disease. Amongst our members, direct study of human muscle tissues is typical as is the study of model systems developed to mimic human muscle disease. These diseases have a variety of defects and require high-resolution structural and functional studies to test hypotheses, quantify phenotypes, and test therapies. By creating the SDMRC, we can accelerate the pace of discovery in each of our laboratories by utilizing technologies developed in and around San Diego by other muscle experts. In this way, no scientist has to “reinvent the wheel” to perform the sophisticated analyses that are described below. In addition, through our enrichment program, we will increase communication among SDMRC members. We will be gathering for seminar series and collaborating in the mentoring program for students, postdoctoral fellows and junior faculty. More information are available for SDMRC funded Research Projects Members of the SDMRC SDMRC supported/organized meetings & seminars SDMRC grants & funding opportunities SDMRC cores and their directors