The Most Precious Gift for Medical Research

by Facioscapulohumeral Society/FSH Society
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The Most Precious Gift for Medical Research
The Most Precious Gift for Medical Research
The Most Precious Gift for Medical Research

Summary

Facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) affects nearly 1 million children and adults worldwide. Many patients wish to donate muscles taken during surgery, or their bodies at death, for medical research. The FSH Society is establishing a registry to match donors to researchers who need the tissue. We need funds to cover the cost of recovering and shipping the tissue to labs. Help us to deliver these invaluable gifts into the hands of scientists who are working on a cure

$16,790
total raised
73
donors
0
monthly donors
8
years

Challenge

FSHD affects 1 in 8,000 individuals. It is a uniquely human disease and will be cured only through the study of tissue donated by patients. We have experienced many failures to arrange for post-mortem tissue recovery. The deceased usually has not signed an informed consent, the family is in distress, and the pathologist has no idea what tissue to recover, how to label and preserve it or where to send it. Patients' desires to contribute to science are thwarted and researchers' needs remain unmet.

Solution

The FSH Society registry matches donors, who have consented in advance, to scientists with funded and approved research projects. Working with the National Disease Research Interchange, our registry provides consent forms in advance to donors and has developed a protocol that pathologists can follow to recover tissue & express ship them to labs anywhere in the world. NDRI has a proven track record working with many rare disease organizations.

Long-Term Impact

Donated tissue will be used to understand how the genetic mechanism of FSHD leads to muscle degeneration. Muscle cells will be grown in the lab to provide an abundant source of cells to study, re-program into stem cells, transplant into laboratory mice, and screen for drugs that can stop the disease process. Lack of access to human tissue is dragging down the field. This project will greatly accelerate the pace of progress toward better diagnostics and treatments.

Additional Documentation

This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).

Resources

Organization Information

Facioscapulohumeral Society/FSH Society

Location: Lexington, MA - USA
Website:
Facebook: Facebook Page
Twitter: @FSHSociety
June Kinoshita
Project Leader:
June Kinoshita
Lexington , MA United States

Funded Project!

Combined with other sources of funding, this project raised enough money to fund the outlined activities and is no longer accepting donations.
   

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