Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy Announces Pediatric Certified Duchenne Care Center, Children's Health and UT Southwestern Medical Center

Leading Duchenne Organization Expands Certification of Clinics that Provide Optimal Care for People with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy with 29th Certification

News provided by

Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy (PPMD)

May 27, 2020, 10:04 ET

HACKENSACK, N.J., May 27, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy (PPMD), a nonprofit organization leading the fight to end Duchenne muscular dystrophy (Duchenne), announced the expansion of their renowned Certified Duchenne Care Center Program (CDCCP) with the certification of the clinic at Children's Health in Dallas and UT Southwestern Medical Center (Children's Health and UT Southwestern). This is an exciting step for the CDCCP as it is the first certification in the state of Texas, and only the second CDCC in the South Central U.S.

Kathi Kinnett, MSN, APRN, PPMD's Clinical Care Advisor, says that the addition of Children's Health and UT Southwestern is an important step in bringing standardized Duchenne care to Texas and the greater region. "The team in Dallas has shown immense dedication to Duchenne care and growth in their Duchenne program over the last several years, and has worked closely with the CDCC Certification Committee to meet the robust standards of certification. We're thrilled to certify their center and recognize the great work they are doing for the Duchenne community in Texas."

Children's Health and UT Southwestern join the network as the 29^th Certified Duchenne Care Center.

Children's Health is the eighth largest pediatric health care provider in the nation, with a neuromuscular center serving approximately 300 dystrophinopathy patients and families. Patients at Children's Health are seen by physicians from UT Southwestern, one of the premier academic medical centers in the nation, which operates the Wellstone Muscular Dystrophy Center with funding from the National Institutes of Health.

Led by Drs. Susan Iannaccone and Diana Castro, Children's Health and UT Southwestern developed an Adolescent Comprehensive Clinic, then worked hard to develop the same level of care and services for patients now seen in the Comprehensive Clinic for the Young. They are home to numerous clinical trials and a number of other clinical research projects. PPMD is thrilled to include Children's Health and UT Southwestern in their growing network of Certified Duchenne Care Centers.

"We are very excited to have achieved this accomplishment," said Dr. Iannaccone, Associate Director of the Wellstone Muscular Dystrophy Center and Co-Director of the MDA Pediatric Care Center at Children's Health. "This is public recognition on a national basis for the excellence of our program. It means we are considered by a large community of Duchenne families to be equal to other leading centers."

"The main advantage of being a Certified Duchenne Care Center is to provide assurance to the families we see that the care we provide meets national standards," said Dr. Diana Castro, Pediatric Neurologist at Children's Health and Assistant Professor at UT Southwestern. "This recognizes our neuromuscular team, but I also want to recognize the cardiology, pulmonology, endocrine, and orthopedic teams who allowed us to create and develop the multidisciplinary care for these patients."

PPMD's Certified Duchenne Care Center Program supports standardized, comprehensive care and services for all people living with Duchenne. Certification means centers maintain the highest standards in clinical and sub-specialty services, rapidly apply new evidence-based knowledge, minimize heterogeneity in clinical research outcomes, and comply with standards in clinical care that were established by the CDC's Care Considerations. As part of its ongoing mission to end Duchenne, PPMD continues to insist that all people with Duchenne receive comprehensive care.

Rachel Schrader, MS, APRN, CPNP-PC, PPMD's Senior Vice President of Clinical Care and Director of the CDCCP, is excited to fulfill the needs of Texas families with this newly certified center. "PPMD and the CDCC Certification Committee are incredibly proud of the work that the Children's Medical Center Dallas team has put into certification. They have a compassionate, expert team that will work tirelessly to meet the needs of their patients and families. We look forward to a close working relationship, in both care and clinical trials, for many years to come."

Support for PPMD's Certified Duchenne Care Center Program is provided, in part, by Whataburger which, through a consumer promotion program in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, sponsored last year's Coach To Cure MD event in an effort to expand optimal care to Texas families.

To learn more about PPMD's Certified Duchenne Care Center Program, visit PPMD's website. Click here to learn more about the history of PPMD's Certified Duchenne Care Center Program and to access PPMD's first published article on the program.

About Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy

Duchenne is a fatal genetic disorder that slowly robs people of their muscle strength. Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy (PPMD) is the largest most comprehensive nonprofit organization in the United States focused on finding a cure for Duchenne—our mission is to end Duchenne.

We demand optimal care standards and strive to ensure every family has access to expert healthcare providers, cutting edge treatments, and a community of support. We invest deeply in treatments for this generation of Duchenne patients and in research that will benefit future generations. Our advocacy efforts have secured hundreds of millions of dollars in funding and won three FDA approvals.

Everything we do—and everything we have done since our founding in 1994—helps those with Duchenne live longer, stronger lives. We will not rest until we end Duchenne for every single person affected by the disease. Join our fight against Duchenne at EndDuchenne.org and follow PPMD on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

About Children's Health

Children's Health℠ is the eighth-largest pediatric health care provider in the nation and the leading pediatric health care system in North Texas, providing a full spectrum of health care services—from daily wellness to specialty visits and critical care. Holding eight disease-specific care certifications from The Joint Commission, Children's Health has been consistently named one of the nation's top pediatric providers by U.S. News & World Report. The Children's Health system includes two full-service hospitals, Children's Medical Center Dallas and Children's Medical Center Plano, Our Children's House inpatient rehabilitation hospital, multiple specialty center and rehabilitation facilities, physician services and the Children's Medical Center Research Institute at UT Southwestern.

About UT Southwestern Medical Center

UT Southwestern, one of the premier academic medical centers in the nation, integrates pioneering biomedical research with exceptional clinical care and education. The institution's faculty has received six Nobel Prizes, and includes 25 members of the National Academy of Sciences, 16 members of the National Academy of Medicine, and 14 Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigators. The full-time faculty of more than 2,500 is responsible for groundbreaking medical advances and is committed to translating science-driven research quickly to new clinical treatments. UT Southwestern physicians provide care in about 80 specialties to more than 105,000 hospitalized patients, nearly 370,000 emergency room cases, and oversee approximately 3 million outpatient visits a year.

SOURCE Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy (PPMD)