My Nonprofit Reviews

Working in research can be difficult in and of itself, but it becomes a greater challenge when a rare disorder such as MSA is the subject of research. Many projects don’t receive the funding necessary to continue or even to get started because funding is prioritized to help those affected on a larger scale. This is a tremendous hurdle to overcome, a devastating one to those affected by this progressive disorder and one that personally made me realize that we are all we have. When a particular grant for research was not renewed and we could not cover the costs of continuation, the MSA coalition stepped in and ensured that not only the research would continue, but also that other collaborators from around the world would be interested in joining the study. Their concerted effort both promoted the research and also helped spark interest for both patients and investigators. And they didn’t stop there; the MSA coalition also rewards outstanding research with an opportunity to share it at international conferences such as the annual American Autonomic Society conference. In 2019, I was awarded this prestigious honor and had the opportunity to present to various experts in the field of Autonomic and Movement Disorders what our team had accomplished thanks to the help of the MSA Coalition. To me, their contributions directly propel the research we conduct on a daily basis in our mission to understand the disorder well enough to find a cure. And my dream is that one day we can finally say that we defeated MSA.