Lochmüller Lab

We are thrilled to announce that Dr. Hanns Lochmüller has been awarded the Clinical Researcher of the Year Award by the University of Ottawa Faculty of Medicine! This prestigious award honours a clinical investigator whose research achievements have brought distinction to their department and to the Faculty of Medicine as a whole.

Hanns receiving the Clinical Researcher of the Year award from Faculty of Medicine Dean Dr. Melissa Forgie

The award was conferred as part of the University of Ottawa MEDGALA on November 22^nd 2025, where Faculty members were honoured for their excellence in research, education, clinical care, community engagement, and leadership.

Hanns and the MEDGALA 2025 award recipients

This year’s recognition celebrates Hanns’ outstanding impact on neuromuscular and rare disease research. Among his many accomplishments this year, his team published a landmark international study in Nature Medicine that re-examined genomic data to provide long-awaited diagnoses for more than 500 families affected by rare diseases, as well as a study in Brain that identified a novel variant in the ATP2A2 gene linked to recurrent rhabdomyolysis. Hanns also led advances in clinical research on neuromuscular diseases, including a promising new first-in-class agonistic antibody therapy for DOK-7 CMS as well as an enhanced-delivery oligonucleotide therapy for myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1) that has showed positive initial results.

Dr. Sally Spendiff, Hanns, Dr. Ruth Slack, and Dr. Alex MacKenzie at MEDGALA 2025

Beyond his scientific achievements, Hanns is recognized for his continued leadership in the neuromuscular field, including his direction of the uOttawa Centre for Neuromuscular Disease, The Neuromuscular Disease Network for Canada (NMD4C) and The uOttawa Brain-Heart Interconnectome, as well as his strong partnerships with patient neuromuscular organizations MDC and Defeat Duchenne.

Congratulations, Hanns, on this well-deserved recognition!