Fields Center for FSHD
(FSH Dystrophy)Research:
A Center without Walls

The Fields Center for FSHD and Neuromuscular Research represents the first concerted international effort to accelerate aggressive and innovative clinical and genetic research to find treatments for people with facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy, also known as FSH dystrophy or FSHD. The Fields Center is a “Center Without Walls,” advancing the synergistic efforts of two of the world’s leading institutions in the area of neuromuscular disease research, the University of Rochester Medical Center’s Neuromuscular Disease Center and Leiden University Medical Center’s Department of Human Genetics.

Through this dynamic partnership between clinical researchers and basic scientists, the Fields Center provides for a vigorous exchange of data and biological samples obtained from volunteers with FSHD (FSH dystrophy) or other neuromuscular diseases and from healthy volunteers. By recruiting volunteers interested in solving the puzzle of FSHD (FSH dystrophy), carefully evaluating their clinical status and correlating it with a detailed analysis of each subject’s DNA, scientists will achieve a better understanding of the molecular and cellular processes responsible for this disease. The Fields Center will recruit interested scientists to collaborate on studies, drawing on the expertise of leading researchers to address critical questions. Through these efforts, researchers strive to improve current disease management strategies and identify therapeutic targets to treat FSHD (FSH dystrophy).

The Fields Center was made possible through the generous support of Mr. Richard T. Fields, Chairman of Coastal Development, LLC, and the Fields Family Foundation. The Fields Family Foundation supports several charities and has been honored for its generous contributions to children’s and safety causes. Richard Fields is on the board of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, a global leader in assisting families, law enforcement, and news media in locating missing or abducted children throughout the world. Richard Fields is also a major donor and supporter of the New York City Police Foundation and Good Shepherd Service and is a board member or Farm Aid, a non-profit organization working to promote a strong and sustainable family farm-based system of agriculture throughout the country. The University of Rochester is grateful for Richard Fields long term support of this important project.


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