I am grateful for your generosity this year and excited to announce that we have reached our goal of providing supplemental funding to the Wellstone Muscular Dystrophy Cooperative Research Centers. The Power of Us is stronger than any one of us alone, and I am appreciative of our community for your commitment to this project.

Every dollar helps us reach our goals as we continue to create innovation for the future of Duchenne and Becker research. There’s still time to join the Power of Us with your gift today. If you haven’t had the chance to contribute to PPMD’s support of the Wellstone centers, you can donate now.

On December 18, 2021, we celebrated the 20th anniversary of the landmark Muscular Dystrophy Community Assistance, Research and Education Act (MD-CARE Act). This piece of legislation would unleash a multi-faceted federal public health and medical research attack on Duchenne and other forms of muscular dystrophy.

One of the greatest gifts of the MD-CARE Act and its follow-on laws was the establishment of the Wellstone Muscular Dystrophy Cooperative Research Centers. For twenty years, these specialized centers throughout the United States have led the field not only in research, but also in the training and development of researchers leading the fight to end Duchenne. The Wellstone centers have enabled research into every possibility, every clinical trial, and every approval.

As we begin another year of uncertainty, I want to thank you all for your dedication to this fight.
A special thanks goes to Suzanne Gaglianone, Mark Baquiran, and Gretchen Egner for sharing their stories with us over the past several weeks.

Our work would not be possible without this community that wraps us together in support and love. YOU are the Power of Us!

My wish for 2022 is that it’s filled with love and hope, innovation, and progress.

Best wishes always,
Pat Furlong

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