The MDCTN holds annual workshops to share opinions and information regarding updates in research and current and promising therapies, these workshops being open to network members, pharmaceutical companies, patient advocacy groups, members of regulatory agencies, and anyone else with an interest in MDCTN activities. The MDCTN also has regular meetings with representatives of member institutes for communication purposes. As a component of its working group activities, the MDCTN also holds seminars about neuromuscular diseases and standardized evaluation for physical therapists and clinical research coordinators. These seminars and workshops are generally well received because they provide a great opportunity for communication between physical therapists and clinical research coordinators from different institutes.

The MDCTN has built the capacity to eliminate the need for researchers and pharmaceutical companies to spend their valuable time looking for cooperative researchers and recruiting patients. Pharmaceutical companies that have asked the secretariat office of the MDCTN to investigate the feasibility of clinical trials on muscular dystrophy have had answers within a few weeks. This is possible because the MDCTN has compiled appropriate forms that are sent directly to possible principal investigators who specialize in muscular diseases and are interested in participating in clinical trials.

Two investigator-initiated clinical trials on muscular dystrophy asked the MDCTN for support in recruitment of patients with certain genetic mutations through the patient registry, Remudy [13]. Patient recruitment for one of these studies was completed within only 2 months. However, at the time of writing, the MDCTN was still working on recruitment for the other study because some possible participants were excluded by more detailed exclusion criteria or because they lived too far from the participating site. Otherwise, participants are assigned quickly from the start.