Meet one of our 2026 Fellows, Ashwini Prasad, PhD! She is a student of Genetics and Genomics at Baylor College of Medicine in Dr. Tom Cooper’s lab in Houston, TX.

Meet one of our 2026 Fellows, Marwa Zafarullah, PhD! She is a postdoctoral fellow at Leland Stanford Junior University in Palo Alto, CA.

February 28, 2026, Worldwide – In recognition of Rare Disease Day 2026, the Global Alliance for Myotonic Dystrophy Awareness proudly stands together as over 60 organizations worldwide raising awareness of myotonic dystrophy (DM) and advocating for improved care, research, and access for individuals and families affected by this complex rare disease.

Federal funding cuts and disruptions in 2025 impacted progress in myotonic dystrophy research. Now, MDF is urging Congress to support $10 million in new, dedicated DM research funding within the CDMRP as part of the Fiscal Year 2027 Department of Defense spending bill.