Arthur Burghes BS, PhD

Professor Burghes received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of London. He performed his graduate work at the Hammersmith Hospital which lies adjacent to Wormwood Scrubs Her Majesty’s prison service, which he did not attend. He then moved to the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto under the direction of Dr. Worton and was involved in cloning the dystrophin gene. He then moved to take up an Assistant Professor position in the Department of Biological Chemistry and Pharmacology where he started his work on Spinal Muscular Atrophy.
At The Ohio State University, he has risen through the ranks to Professor, irritated administrators, and undertaken research in SMA that has led to the current era of treatments. In particular he was involved in early mapping studies to identify the location of the gene, characterization of the role of SMN2 in modifying the disease phenotypes as well as the development of animal model of SMA along with the testing of various therapeutic approaches.