Craig McDonald

Craig McDonald is a Professor and Chair of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of California, Davis. He leads the NIDRR-funded Rehabilitation Research and Training Center in Neuromuscular Diseases and directs the UC Davis NINDS-funded site in the NeuroNEXT Neurosciences Clinical Trials Consortium. His work focuses on neuromuscular diseases like muscular dystrophies and spinal cord injury management, with expertise in clinical trials, outcome measure development, and novel therapies.

• Director of NIDRR-funded Rehabilitation Research Center
• Principal Investigator for NeuroNEXT clinical trials site
• Recipient of $16M+ federal grants over 12 years

Research interests include:

• Clinical endpoint validation for neuromuscular trials
• Gene therapy (e.g., delandistrogene moxeparvovec)
• Pharmacological interventions (ataluren, givinostat)
• Long-term outcomes in Duchenne muscular dystrophy

Recent work emphasizes:

• Phase III trials for gene therapies
• Comparative effectiveness of corticosteroids
• Propensity score-matched natural history studies

He advises pharmaceutical companies on DMD clinical trials and participates in NIH study sections. Key contributions include:

• EMBARK trial leadership
• STRIDE registry analysis
• Development of composite clinical endpoints