Dr Chantal Coles is a Senior Postdoctoral Research Scientist specialising in skeletal muscle research with heavy focus on muscular dystrophies in children. The lab uses flow cytometry to profile and harvest immune cells which infiltrate skeletal muscle following injury and in chronic diseases such as muscular dystrophy. This inflammatory infiltrate following injury/disease are important to repair damaged skeletal muscle. Dr Coles research focuses on muscular dystrophies, like Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, where inflammation is not resolved following repeated cycles of muscle damage and skeletal muscle is replaced with fibrosis. Using high-dimensional flow cytometry, Dr Coles research aims to create an immune cell atlas for muscular dystrophies where inflammation impedes proper muscle repair. This is being done by using a blood sample from patients to profile the immune cells altered in muscular dystrophies. From the same blood sample, stem cells from patients can be generated to grow into skeletal muscle cells and culture them with immune cells in a dish to model their disease. This will enable testing of various immune-cell therapies (immuno-therapies) on the cultured muscle and immune cells in the laboratory before they go to clinical trial.

This research will one day revolutionise muscle repair and mobility for patients living with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy and lead to effective treatment options for people living with one of over 60 different types of muscular dystrophy.