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Information for Patients and Referring Doctors
Dr. Daley with a Children's patient
Dr. Daley discusses results with a patient
The Manton Center was created to help patients worldwide by pushing forward the frontiers of research to understand the basis of rare diseases and develop diagnostic methods and effective treatments for patients with these conditions. The Manton Center is focused on research to create a better future, and does not conduct clinical trials or provide funding or services for diagnosis or treatment of individual patients. However, many of the research projects conducted by our Scientists include clinical studies that may involve direct patient participation. In addition, the Gene Discovery Core is being developed to enroll patients with rare diseases into a long-term study (the "Gene Partnership Project") to analyze their genetic constitution and its relationship to their particular disorder. By bringing together the medical information and data on a large group of patients over time, The Manton Center Gene Discovery Core will be able to amass sufficient numbers of patients with particular rare conditions to make meaningful progress in those areas.

If you, or someone you know, has a rare or undiagnosed condition, and you would be interested in more information on participation in the Gene Discovery Core's Gene Partnership Project, please check back on this page for more details when the project begins enrolling subjects. Below are also links to the seven project areas of particular focus by The Manton Center Senior Scientists. Patients with related conditions are invited to contact those investigators directly through their laboratory web sites.
The Manton Center currently supports seven project areas:

Development of Cell-Based Therapies

Molecular Genetics and Therapy of Congenital Myopathies

Basic and Clinical Research on Galactosemia

Molecular Basis for Ion Channel Disorders

Genetics of Microcephaly/Mental Retardation

Gene Discovery in Cranial Motor Neuron Disorders and Strabismus

Genetics and Clinical Treatment of Primary Immunodeficiency Diseases
The Manton Center is currently in the process of implementing the state-of-the-art Gene Discovery Core, a genetic laboratory and database which will compile both genotypic and phenotypic information for patients with orphan disorders.

The Gene Discovery Core (GDC) will employ a "hub and spokes" model: the Gene Discovery Core (the hub) will funnel the results of genetic tests to scientists studying each respective disease (the spokes). By collecting DNA and associating genetic information with clinical information, the Gene Discovery Core will serve as a valuable genetic library that scientists at Children's Hospital Boston and their collaborators around the world can utilize to facilitate the study of disease.

Bioinformatics experts and computer programmers are currently developing the information architecture to collect and manage voluminous genetic and clinical data; they are building strong safeguards to protect privacy and patients' personal rights to control their own data. A centralized gene discovery resource will hasten gene-finding efforts across-the-board, amplifying The Manton Center's impact on human health far beyond Children's Hospital.

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