George Dickson

Management Committee Substitute

George Dickson is Professor of Molecular Cell Biology at Royal Holloway – University of London (RHUL). He has spent most of his career studying neuromuscular disease and muscle cell biology, including the first cloning of an intact dystrophin gene, the discovery of the role of cell adhesion molecules in muscle stem cell fusion, the first identification of utrophin, and the first description of exon skipping in Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). Professor Dickson has also conducted notable research into gene therapy for atherosclerosis, and genetic vaccination against HIV/AIDS.  He is a member of the UK MDEX Consortium, UK HIV-Vaccine Consortium, and the EU-SKIP-NMD Project, and has been a platform leader in the EU Clinigene Network of Excellence. He is a past President of the European Society of Gene & Cell Therapy, and a past Secretary and founder member of the British Society for Gene Therapy. He has been a member of the European Medicine Agency Committee for Advanced Therapeutics (Gene and Cell Therapies). Present research has been supported by EU, Muscular Dystrophy Charities, Welcome Trust, UK Department of Health, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and industry partners like Wyeth, Sarepta, Benitec, and Pfizer, and includes: (i) Optimisation of exon-skipping and antisense oligonucleotide formulations for DMD, (ii) Inhibition of myostatin by RNA skipping and gene therapy for DMD, (iii) Development of dystrophin minigenes and AAV viral vectors for treatment of DMD, (iv) Direct genome correction of DMD using endonuclease-mediated genome surgery, (v) Development of adenoviral vaccine vectors for HIV/AIDS, (vi) General muscle fibre and stem cell biology.