Darren Ormiston, a 9-year-old boy with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, suddenly screamed and lept from his wheelchair, running to a doctor with his hands in the air.

Darren wasn’t in distress, just really excited for his high-fives from neurologist Dr. John Crawford and Jessica Miley of the CHOC Foundation during the ribbon-cutting ceremony to launch a clinic dedicated to the progressive neuromuscular disorder he is living with.

The new CureDuchenne Clinic has opened at the Rady Children’s Hospital of Orange County’s Children’s Health Center at the Joe C. Wen & Family Center for Advanced Care in Irvine.

Duchenne muscular dystrophy is a genetic disorder predominantly affecting boys. An estimated 15,000 individuals in the United States are affected by DMD.

  • Doctors, Duchenne muscular dystrophy patients, Irvine councilmembers and others join...
    Doctors, Duchenne muscular dystrophy patients, Irvine councilmembers and others join in the ribbon cutting ceremony to open the CureDuchenne Clinic at the CHOC Center for Children’s Health in Irvine on Monday, Sept. 15, 2025. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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Doctors, Duchenne muscular dystrophy patients, Irvine councilmembers and others join in the ribbon cutting ceremony to open the CureDuchenne Clinic at the CHOC Center for Children’s Health in Irvine on Monday, Sept. 15, 2025. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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The Newport Beach-based CureDuchenne provided a $1.5 million grant over three years to fund the clinic, with a goal of providing a multidisciplinary healthcare team to address the complex needs of children with DMD, in addition to expanding participation in clinical trials and emerging treatments, and addressing the healthcare challenges faced by low-income families.

CureDuchene founders, Debra and Paul Miller, and their son, 28-year-old Hawken Miller, who is living with DMD, were among the families celebrating the clinic’s opening.