The fourth annual AMDA Research Grant (named the 2013 Helen Walker Research Grant) was awarded to Dr. Barbara Smith with the University of Florida for her Project: “[Diaphragmatic] Pacing in Subjects with Pompe Disease.” Respiratory insufficiency is a serious, and often life-threatening effect of Pompe Disease and her team’s work will investigate a potential new groundbreaking area in managing patients with Pompe Disease.
There are two primary aims for this research project, which will stuffy patients with Pompe disease who have a received a diaphragm pacemaker due to hypoventilation.
• The first aim is to measure the rate and extent that intramuscular diaphragm pacing replaces positive pressure ventilation.
• The second aim is to determine whether patients who receive a diaphragm pacemaker report changes in their quality of life.
Congratulations Dr. Smith!