Nationwide, more than 400,000 people live with MS. In the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, many thousands are affected by the disease. Every hour someone is diagnosed with MS and many lives are forever changed. To fund research, to provide hope, to find a cure, this is why we’re here.
The National Capital Chapter is proud to partner with chapters nationwide as part of the Promise: 2010 initiative - the first national fundraising campaign, focused on four targeted areas of research.
With a nationwide goal of $30 million, over a five-year period, each chapter’s commitment is critical to our success. The National Capital Chapter remains on the forefront of research progress with a commitment to this campaign of $1 million.
Promise: 2010’s four targeted areas of research include:
- Tissue Repair and Protection
- MS Pediatric Care Centers
- Sonya Slifka Longitudinal Study
- MS Lesion Project
Nervous System Repair and Protection: This bold new initiative for tissue repair and protection in MS involves the largest grants ever offered by the Society and sets the stage for translating basic lab discoveries into clinical efforts to restore nerve function in people with MS. Interdisciplinary teams will develop non-invasive tools and models, and design clinical trials to pave the way for clinical testing.
Why is this exciting?
Bringing the dream to a reality. Protecting and repairing brain tissue could reverse the damage caused by MS and restore brain function.
Pediatric MS Treatment Centers: There are approximately 8,000-10,000 children or adolescents
Why is this exciting?
The centers are gathering critical data to ultimately help researchers worldwide better understand the course that MS takes from the very beginning of the disease, when symptoms first appear. Many believe that studying MS in children holds great promise for unlocking the mysteries of MS in adults.
The Sonya Slifka Longitudinal MS Study: The first study of its kind in the U.S., the Sonya Slifka Longitudinal MS Study
Why is this exciting?
The information we are gathering in this study fuels many aspects of our efforts to improve quality of life for people with MS. It helps us understand what therapies are working best and whether people have access to them. It allows us to share data with the scientific community. It also allows us to fuel our advocacy groups with information they need to inform policy makers about health care and disability rights.
The MS Lesion Project: This international collaboration seeks patterns in the MS damage seen in brain tissue where myelin has been stripped from nerve fibers – lesions - and attempts to correlate those findings with actual clinical signs, symptoms, and responses to therapy. People with MS experience the disease in so many different ways; some MS investigators wonder whether MS has a single cause, and whether a single therapy will be found to work for all those who have it.
Why is this exciting?
Understanding lesion patterns can provide more information about differences in the disease between individuals, which will enable doctors to make more accurate diagnoses, prognoses, and treatment decisions.
If you are interested in joining the movement by supporting the Promise: 2010 Initiative, please contact Kate Shifflett Director of Development, at (202) 296-5363 or via e-mail at KShifflett@MSandYOU.org.
For more information about the Promise: 2010 initiative, including videos, stories, and progress reports, please visit the National MS Society’s site
