A SCIENTIST who has dedicated her career to finding a cure for muscular dystrophy is backing this year’s Town and Gown fundraising run for research into the debilitating condition.

Professor Dame Kay Davies is urging people to sign up for the Oxford Mail-backed run in Oxford city centre on May 15.

The 10k run raises money for Muscular Dystrophy UK, which funds her work looking at two types of the disease: Becker and Duchenne.

Becker is characterised by slowly progressive muscle weakness of the legs and pelvis, while Duchenne – which affects boys – spreads to the legs and arms. Sufferers can die in their 20s after their respiratory muscles fail.

For more than three decades, Prof Davies – from Oxford University’s Department of Physiology Anatomy and Genetics – has been working on potential treatments and one for Duchenne has now moved into the second phase of clinical trials.

She said: “Duchenne muscular dystrophy is a devastating condition, and one that I have dedicated my career to tackling. I feel that we can say that a long-term therapy for it is on the horizon.”

The condition is caused by the lack of a fully functional vital muscle protein called dystrophin, with Professor Davies’ work involving prompting the body to produce more of a muscle protein called utrophin, which could take on the role of dystrophin.

She described it as “a promising step forward”.

Muscular Dystrophy UK has been funding Professor Davies’ research and gave £180,000 to her project last year.

Professor Davies said: “ I’d like to thank all those who have run the Oxford Town and Gown 10k over the years. You have helped to fund this research and to bring about the progress we see today.”

Muscular Dystrophy UK’s director of research, Dr Marita Pohlschmidt, said she thought Professor Davies’ work was vital in eventually finding a cure for the illness.

She said: “It’s fantastic to see that research funded by the charity over the past 20 years is now progressing into phase two clinical trials.

“However, it’s vital that we continue to support Professor Davies’ work.”

* To find out more about the race or to register, visit townandgown10k.com/OxMail