Dr. Jones received a B.Sc. degree from The University of Manchester (UK) in 1985, and a Ph.D. degree also from The University of Manchester in 1989. After obtaining his Ph.D. Dr. Jones spent a year as a Royal Society Fellow at Shinshu Universuty, Matsumoto, Japan. In 1990 he was appointed a Research Fellow in the Department of Surgery, University of Maryland at Baltimore (UMAB). In 1994 Dr. Jones became an Assistant Professor in Surgery at UMAB. He joined the Hopkins/KKI faculty in 1997. Dr. Jones is currently the Administrative Laboratory Manager for the Genetics Laboratories at the Kennedy Krieger Institute as well as a Research Associate in Neurology at Johns Hopkins.

Dr. Jones is a member of the Society for Neuroscience, the American Association for Clinical Chemistry and the Clinical Laboratory Management Association.

Dr. Jones’ scientific interests lie in the field of peroxisomal disorders. The primary disorder he is concerned with is X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy (X-ALD). Elevated plasma levels of very long chain fatty acids (VLCFA) are diagnostic of X-ALD. An assay for plasma VLCFA was developed in this laboratory and is now used by many other laboratories. Use of this assay has identified more than 2500 patients with peroxisomal disorders. It is also used for prenatal diagnosis, and more than 500 pregnancies have been monitored. This laboratory is a major reference laboratory for peroxisomal disorders both nationally and internationally.

The major research objective of this laboratory is to develop an effective therapy for X-ALD and other peroxisomal disorders, a goal which is reinforced daily by contact with patients and their families. Dr. Jones is involved in studies that evaluate the use of Lorenzo’s Oil therapy in the treatment of X-ALD in both children and adults. He has also been involved in the development of methods to allow for screening for X-ALD and other peroxisomal disorders in blood spots obtained from newborn babies.

Hubbard WC, Moser AB, Liu AK, Jones RO, Steinberg SJ, Lorey F, Panny SR, Vogt RF Jr., Macaya D, Turgeon CT, Tortorelli S, and Raymond GV. Newborn Screening for X-Linked Adrenoleukodystrophy (X-ALD): Validation of a Combined Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometric (LC-MS/MS) Method. Mol. Genetics. Metab. 2009.

Raymond GV, Jones RO, Moser AB: Newborn Screening for Adrenoleukodystrophy. Implications for Therapy. Mol. Diag. Ther. 11(6) 381-384, 2007.

Mahmood A, Brereton NH, Jones RO, Moser AB, Raymond GV, Moser HW. Lorenzo’s oil with Diet therapy does not impair the growth of asymptomatic ALD boys. International Child Neurology Congress, Montreal, 2006.

Moser HW, Raymond GV, Lu SE, Moser AB, Xu J, Jones RO, Loes DJ, Melhem ER, Dubey P, Bezman L, Brereton NH, Odone A: Follow-up of 89 asymptomatic patients with adrenoleukodystrophy treated with Lorenzo's oil. Arch Neurol. 62 1073-80, 2005.

Richard O. Jones, Ph.D.

Administrative Manager
Genetic Laboratories
Kennedy Krieger Institute

707 North Broadway, Baltimore MD 21205
(map & directions)

Research Associate in Neurology
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Telephone: 443-923-2758
Facsimile: 443-923-2775
Email Address: jonesri@kennedykrieger.org


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