Dear Jo>,

We've just completed our first-ever marathon fundraiser with Team SCIS/u2fp competing in both Chicago and New York. In addition, we had several racers participate in a handful of smaller events while raising money for U2FP. It's been a rewarding experience for everyone involved, and we are extremely grateful to all of the competitors and their donors who chose to support the work of Unite 2 Fight Paralysis.

Our Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) will be the major beneficiary of this fundraising effort. In 2012, U2FP combined with Spinal Cord Injury Sucks to create a review board that would provide services to the many smaller foundations in the SCI community that were raising funds to donate to research. Over the years we had seen these organizations struggle to identify worthwhile projects to fund, or worse, donate to questionable scientific projects. 

Since its inception, the SAB has grown from 3 to 6 members with a broad range of expertise, enabling them to review a variety of projects in all areas of SCI research and recovery. To date, our SAB has reviewed $4M in grant requests, provided clinical trial guidance, and answered countless questions from our staff and others seeking advice. We provide grant reviews and oversight at no cost to organizations as part of our efforts to support others who share our goal. Meet the members of our Scientific Advisory Board:

Phillip G. Popovich, PhD, Chair, Ohio State University

Moses Chao, PhD, New York University School of Medicine

Jean de Vellis, PhD, University of California, Los Angeles

Steven Kirshblum, MD, Kessler Institute

Brian Kwon, MD, FRCSC, University of British Columbia

Keith Tansey, MD, PhD, Emory University

The SAB provided oversight for a project in the lab of Dr. Murray Blackmore. Donations from SCI Sucks and U2FP, with additional support from Marquette University, provided funding for the purchase of equipment for his new lab at Marquette. Soon after that, The Bryon Reisch Foundation provided additional funding for a project that utilized the equipment. This seed money for Dr. Blackmore's exploration of promising genetic therapies eventually led to a $1.6 million grant from the NIH for further testing on gene targets for spinal cord injury repair. In Dr. Blackmore's words:

"The importance of U2FP’s support cannot be overstated, and reflects U2FP’s remarkable commitment to understanding the underlying science in a way that allows strategic investment. Without U2FP’s early support as we established the lab, and without U2FP’s strategic investment in equipment, progress in this direction simply could not have happened. There is no question that more therapeutic gene targets await discovery, and we are thrilled and inspired by U2FP’s support for the ongoing search."

 

If you or your organization would like to take advantage of the services of our SAB, please contact Donna Sullivan at donnasullivan@u2fp.org.

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Successful advocates have a strong understanding of research science and the process of bringing therapies to the clinic. They seek answers for the constant questions that arise in the complex quest to find cures for paralysis. No matter where you are on the knowledge scale, we have a couple of excellent resources that will help you understand where we are today and where we might be headed.

Here's an excellent summary of what's going at the moment in the field of paralysis research, provided by Neurokinex.

Clearly written and beautifully illustrated, this book is a comprehensive tour of the challenges and potential solutions to bring recovery from spinal cord injury.

Keep up the fight!

Marilyn

Unite 2 Fight Paralysis     3078 Eliot Dr     Hood River OR 97031      u2fp.org

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