Jeff appointed Emeritus Professor

September 11th, 2023

Jeff has been appointed Emeritus Professor of Neurology and Physiology at the Boston University School of Medicine. Although his laboratory is now closed, Jeff continues to teach, edit, write, and consult in neuromuscular diseases.

New DUX4 paper published

May 14th, 2022

The paper we recently submitted has been accepted and published: Beermann, M.L., Homma, S., and Miller, J.B. (2022) Proximity ligation assay to detect DUX4 protein in FSHD1 muscle: A pilot study. BMC Research Notes 15:163. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13104-022-06054-8.

New DUX4 paper submitted

March 10th, 2022

We've submitted a new paper on DUX4 protein expression. Co-authors Mary Lou Beermann, Sachiko Homma, and Jeff

FSHD manuscript now published

January 12th, 2022

Our latest paper has now been published:
Masteika, I. F., Sathya, A., Homma, S., Miller, B.M., Boyce, F.M., and Miller, J.B. (2022) Downstream events initiated by expression of FSHD-associated DUX4: Studies of nucleocytoplasmic transport, γH2AX accumulation, and Bax/Bak-dependence. Biology Open vol. 11, bio059145 online access

New FSHD Paper Submitted

November 15th, 2021

We've submitted a new article for publication in which we describe our experiments to identify additional mechanisms of DUX4-induced pathology relevant to FSHD.

FSHD Society Conference

June 19th, 2021

Looking forward to participating in the FSHD Society's International Research Conference, June 24-25.

Friends of FSHD Conference

March 2nd, 2021

On Saturday, February 27th, Jeff participated in a conference sponsored by Friends of FSHD Research.

MDA grant

February 1st, 2021

The Muscular Dystrophy Association has provided renewed support to continue our work on FSHD.

World Muscle Society

October 23rd, 2020

Jeff participated in the (online) World Muscle Society Congress held in early October. The conference was very well organized and facilitated much interaction between academic and industry researchers.

FSHD International Conference

June 30th, 2020

Isabel Masteika and Jeff participated in the (online) FSHD International Research Conference on June 25-26.

BU Research Recovery toolkit

May 20th, 2020

Boston University has established a research recovery plan for those labs that ramped down on-site activity at the start of the pandemic.

BU and coronavirus: Info site

March 15th, 2020

The Boston University Medical Campus has a website devoted to information about the coronavirus pandemic. The site includes up-to-date information about steps being taken on campus, including research updates, in response to the current coronavirus pandemic.

UROP award continuation

February 1st, 2020

The Boston University Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) has extended the grant to fund Anvitha Sathya, an undergraduate researcher in our group, for her work on FSHD during the spring semester.

Ravens vs. Red-tails field note by Jeff

December 8th, 2019

Jeff has published a new field note, "Ravens versus Red-tails," in the December 2019 issue of Bird Observer, the birding journal of New England. You can read the article here.

UROP award

October 19th, 2019

The Boston University Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) has provided a grant to fund Anvitha Sathya, an undergraduate researcher in our group, for her work on FSHD.

New undergraduate researcher

September 9th, 2019

We're welcoming a new BU undergraduate to our lab group, Anvitha Sathya, who will join our ongoing FSHD research program.

New grant awarded to Dr. Homma

August 30th, 2019

Our colleague, Dr. Sachiko Homma, has been awarded a new two-year grant from the FSHD Society to support her work on FSHD pathogenic mechanisms.

New collaboration

June 5th, 2019

We have set up a formal collaboration with Peter and Takako Jones who are at the University of Nevada at Reno School of Medicine. Funded by the Muscular Dystrophy Association, our work will focus on FSHD pathogenesis.

New lab member

April 30th, 2019

Isabel Masteika, soon to graduate from Hampshire College, will join the laboratory in early June. Welcome!

Trans-splicing paper published

February 19th, 2019

Our paper on trans-splicing has now been published by Scientific Reports and can be accessed here. The citation is:

Mitsuhashi, H., Homma, S., Beermann, M.L., Ishimaru, S., Takeda, H., Yu, B.K., Liu, K., Duraiswamy, S., Boyce, F.M., and Miller, J.B.(2019) Efficient system for upstream mRNA trans-splicing to generate covalent, head-to-tail, protein multimers. Scientific Reports 9:2274 pp. 1-15. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-36684-7

Jeff publishes a birding field note on juncos

February 2nd, 2019

Jeff has published another birding field note: "Heart, Lefty, and Popsicle: A Winter with Three Identifiable Dark-eyed Juncos." This article appears in the February, 2019 issue of Bird Observer, which is the birding journal of New England. The online version of the article is available here.

New MDA grant awarded

January 9th, 2019

The Muscular Dystrophy Association has awarded a new three year grant, with Jeff as P.I., to support our work on pathogenesis and therapeutic targets in FSHD.

Manuscript accepted for publication

November 20th, 2018

Our manuscript on mRNA trans-splicing has been accepted for publication:

Mitsuhashi, H., Homma, S., Beermann, M.L., Ishimaru, S., Takeda, H., Yu, B.K., Liu, K., Duraiswamy, S., Boyce, F.M., and Miller, J.B. (2018) Efficient system for upstream mRNA trans-splicing to generate covalent, head-to-tail, protein multimers. Scientific Reports (in press).

New manuscript submitted

September 3rd, 2018

We've submitted a new manuscript describing development of an efficient system to generate trans-spliced mRNAs that encode covalent, head-to-tail protein multimers. Collaborators include Hiroaki Mitsuhashi (Tokai University) and Rick Boyce (Massachusetts General Hospital).

Presentation at FSHD Conference

June 11th, 2018

Our colleague, Dr. Sachiko Homma presented her work on mechanisms of DUX4-induced pathogenesis at the FSHD International Research Conference, which was held in Las Vegas, June 8-9.