Consultant neurologist  

Director, Neurology Department  

Biographical sketch

Professor Ryan's qualifications include bachelor's degrees in Medicine and Surgery (University of Melbourne, 1991), fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (1998) and a Master's degree in Medicine (University of Sydney 2001). She completed subspecialty training in paediatric neurology in Sydney, a neurology residency at the Children's Hospital Boston, and a neurophysiology fellowship at the Lahey Clinic, Boston Massachusetts.

Career highlights include awards for clinical research from the Child Neurology Society (USA) (2000), American Academy of Neurologists (2002), and the XIth International Congress on Neuromuscular Disorders (2006).

Clinical and Research Interests

Professor Ryan is head of the multidisciplinary RCH Neuromuscular Clinic and the RCH Neuromuscular Research Unit, which includes a growing team of clinicians and researchers dedicated to improving diagnosis and management of children affected by muscular dystrophies, myopathies and neuropathies. She is a board member of the U.S. Cooperative International Neuromuscular Research Group (CINRG) and Australian Neuromuscular Network and an associate member of the international TREAT-NMD Therapeutic Advisory Committee. Professor Ryan has been a principal investigator on numerous international clinical trials for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, spinal muscular atrophy, Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease and other paediatric neuromuscular disorders and also has more than 150 peer-reviewed publications and is author of a recent textbook on paediatric neuromuscular diseases.

Selected publications

McDonald CM, Henricson EK, Abresch RT, Duong T, Joyce NC, Hu F, Clemens PR, Hoffman EP, Cnaan A, Gordish-Dressman H; CINRG Investigators. Long-term effects of glucocorticoids on function, quality of life, and survival in patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy: a prospective cohort study. Lancet. 2017 Nov 22. pii: S0140-6736(17)32160-8. 

Finkel RS, Mercuri E, Darras BT, Connolly AM, Kuntz NL, Kirschner J, Chiriboga CA, Saito K, Servais L, Tizzano E, Topaloglu H, Tulinius M, Montes J, Glanzman AM, Bishop K, Zhong ZJ, Gheuens S, Bennett CF, Schneider E, Farwell W, De Vivo DC; ENDEAR Study Group. Nusinersen versus Sham Control in Infantile-Onset Spinal  Muscular Atrophy. N Engl J Med. 2017;377:1723-1732.

Hogarth MW, Houweling PJ, Thomas KC, Gordish-Dressman H, Bello L; Cooperative  International Neuromuscular Research Group (CINRG), Pegoraro E, Hoffman EP, Head  SI, North KN. Evidence for ACTN3 as a genetic modifier of Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Nat Commun. 2017 Jan 31;8:14143

Darras BT, Jones HR Jr, Ryan MM, De Vivo DC (editors). Neuromuscular Disorders of Infancy, Childhood and Adolescence: A Clinician's Approach.  2nd edition.  San Diego: Elsevier, 2015.

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