Dr. Yohei Harada Receives Development Grant for Research on Neuromuscular Ultrasound and Electric Impedance Myography in CMT

Yohei Harada, MD, was selected to receive a development grant from the ANF in 2021 for his research project “Neuromuscular Ultrasound and Electric Impedance Myography in CMT type 1A:A Prospective Longitudinal Study.”

Dr. Harada, a neurologist at Duke University Hospital, is using the grant to evaluate the utility of NM US and electric impedance myography in detecting changes in nerves and muscles over 2 years.

“We are in an exciting era for Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT) research with multiple ongoing therapeutic trials, but are still in need of improved outcome measures. Those currently in use have limitations, including a ceiling effect in severely affected patients and low sensitivity for disease progression. In general, when the sensitivity of an outcome measure is low, it will require a large number of patients to conduct the trial. This is challenging in rare conditions like CMT,” explained Harada. “We want to see ifNM US and electric impedance myography can serve as alternative assessment tools to accelerate future trials by lowering the number of patients needed to detect improvement and detecting change more quickly.”

Dr. Harada has been able to enroll several patients into his study so far. “I am so grateful that all the eligible patients have been willing to participate in the study and told me the excitement that feels at being a part of the research. Those interactions with the patients have been a motivation for me as a clinical researcher to help them from this progressive disease,” said Harada.

Harada appreciates the ANF’s support of his education and research. “Since it was my first time applying for a major research grant, writing the grant application itself was a great opportunity to develop my skillset as a clinical researcher,” said Harada. “I appreciate the AANEM and ANF’s support of my career development and research project.”

Dr. Harada’s research efforts as part of the ANF development grant began August 2021 through July 2023. Following completion of the research, Dr. Harada will present his findings at an AANEM Annual Meeting.