Malique Jones to Study Neuromuscular Disease Gene Therapy at NIH

** By Chuck Carlson

Feb. 14, 2024

In the Summer of 2019, Malique Jones was a new Ph.D. student and Dr. Nathan Tykocki was a new professor in the Pharmacology & Toxicology Department.

Jones needed a mentor and Tykocki needed students for his lab. And so began a journey they took together.

“It just clicked,” Dr. Tykocki said of the collaboration. “I was new, and I was just getting my lab off the ground. It not only got her research off the ground, but it got my lab off the ground. She was my first Ph.D. student, and I knew it was a good fit.”

So did Jones.

“He allows every scientist or young investigator that comes through to take full autonomy of their projects and he gives you the space to think creatively,” she said. “So, I don’t think I’d be where I am if it hadn’t been for him.”

Where she is, nearly five years later, is preparing to begin her new post-doctoral position at the NIH’s National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences in Rockville, Md. She will be researching neuromuscular junction disorders as well as developing therapies for rare neglected neuromuscular diseases and developing a platform to introduce a gene therapy to study these diseases.

“My job essentially is to develop assays to see if the gene therapy used will develop antibodies,” she said.

Specifically, she will be studying the chronic neuromuscular disease myasthenia gravis, which causes weakness in the voluntary muscles, including the face, throat and diaphragm, and can impact the movement of arms and legs as well as swallowing, breathing and facial movements.

For now, there is no cure, but Jones hopes her research can, for the moment, help those afflicted lead a less challenging life. A native of Spartanburg, S.C., Jones earned her bachelor’s degree in biology at Bennett College in North Carolina. Her interest in pharmacology and toxicology led her to Michigan State’s Biomolecular Science Gateway and, eventually, to Dr. Tykocki’s Lab where she was able to expand on her love of research.

“She’s really in the heart of biomedical research,” Dr. Tykocki said. “NIH is the top of the pyramid in research.” It has been a long, fulfilling journey for Jones, who admits, “I knew I wanted to get a Ph.D., but I didn’t think I would get this far.”

But her mentor had no doubt.

“She’s an outstanding scientist,” Tykocki said, adding with a laugh, “Maybe I’ll work for her one day. I’d be happy to.”