Myelin Repair Foundation

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Myelin Repair Foundation is eliminating the Valley of Death. Watch our video today.

President’s Update

photo of Scott Johnson January 4, 2012
MRF Opens a New Translational Medicine Center: 2012 is going to be a very exciting year for the MRF and myelin repair! I am extremely pleased to announce that the MRF has opened a new Translational Medicine Center just a few miles from our office. This Center will provide dedicated laboratory space staffed by MRF personnel, separate from the eight academic labs we already fund.

Making A Difference

Learn more about how the Myelin Repair Foundation is accelerating myelin repair research. Watch our video.

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Follow Our Progress

January 4, 2012
Myelin Repair Foundation Launches the New MRF Translational Medicine Center. Read the press release.

October 25, 2011
Partnering for a Cure: Stanford Social Innovation Review features Ideas/First Person column by Scott Johnson. Read more here.

October 5, 2011
Research!America Honors Scott Johnson for Advocacy for Medical Research. Nation's largest nonprofit public education and advocacy alliance dedicated to making research a higher national priority awards MRF President Scott Johnson the Gordon and Llura Gund Leadership Award. Read more here.

September 25, 2011
Mice stem cells guided into myelinating cells by the trillions. Nature Methods publishes breakthrough stem cell discovery from MRF-funded research at Case Western Reserve University. Read more here.

September 25, 2011
MRF: Conrad N. Hilton Foundation Grants MRF $750,000 to Advance Human Cell Cultures for Myelin Repair. Read more about how this impact our progress.

All media coverage...

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Although hundreds of thousands of scholarly scientific articles are published every year, the FDA approves less than two-dozen new drugs a year. What's missing is the translation of all that cutting-edge science into cutting-edge cures. That's where the MRF comes in. --Scott Cook, Co-Founder, Intuit

The Myelin Repair Foundation's model—which brings together researchers and works to ensure that their work is relevant to development of patient treatments—is a critical innovation at a time when our system of drug development is looking for new ideas. --Elliot Gerson, Aspen Institute and Rhodes Trust

There are many foundations funding research on different diseases, but fewer that are investing in the infrastructure to manage that research more effectively. --Nancy Barrand,Special Advisor for Program Development,Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Innovation is a decidedly social process encompassing diverse individuals, corporations, communities, networks, and regions. The work of the Myelin Repair Foundation is an excellent demonstration of these principles. --John Hagel, Co-Chair, Deloitte LLC, Center for Edge Innovation

I am drawn to new ideas that have the potential to change a market. I am inspired by the MRF's business model and advanced medical research concepts. MRF is a non-profit, but it breaks every rule and barrier to the speed of a start-up with the agility of a successful business. --Samantha Fein, Managing Director, Threxy

Unlike a lot of other organizations, the Myelin Repair Foundation really understands the intersection between academia and pharma. And if you're going to make a difference in MS, myelin repair is where you're going to have to put your efforts. We are putting efforts there. --Craig Sorensen, Vice President, Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Working with MRF is an unmistakable path for me to bring effective therapeutics — and new hope — for all patients in need. --Beatrice Perotti, Ph.D., M.B.A., President and CEO, Beatrice Perotti, Inc.

Breaking down barriers between academic research and commercial drug development will be the centerpiece of the Myelin Repair Foundation's legacy. --William K. Bowes. Jr., FounderAmgen, U.S. Venture Partners

Through our funding, we look for ways to make medical research more relevant to health improvement. MRF's leadership in transforming the research paradigm is very compelling to us. --Lynne Garner, Trustee & President, Donaghue Foundation

We view the Myelin Repair Foundation's Accelerated Research Collaboration model as just that, a transformative idea with the potential to pioneer a new approach to medical research that can speed the discovery process and lead to the development of new treatments. --Carl Schramm, President and CEO, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation

Not enough progress has been made, fast enough, toward effective treatments for MS. I am involved with the Myelin Repair Foundation because I really believe in the methodology: Getting the best people together to solve a really tough problem collaboratively. I truly believe that the Myelin Repair Foundation offers real hope. --Julie Wainwright, Founder and CEO, SmartNow.com

MRF's collaborative model is … definitely accelerating results. The scientists have made important advances that, if the labs had been working on their own, would have been much less likely. --Brian Popko, Ph.D., University of Chicago, Director, Jack Miller Center for Peripheral Neuropathy, Associate Chair for Research, Department of Neurology

I support the MRF for two reasons. Personally, I have a connection to MS: My husband has MS. But even beyond that, the vision of Myelin Repair Foundation and the method that they are proving out to get drugs to people faster is a really big vision that is important for a lot of unmet medical needs and it is exciting to be a part of it. --Sharon Wienbar, Managing Partner, Scale Venture Partners

If you just leave it to basic scientists working alone in their own labs, converting basic scientific discoveries into drugs almost never happens. Without the ARC model there is no infrastructure for accelerating drug development. --Ben Barres, M.D., Ph.D., Stanford University School of Medicine, Chair, Neurobiology Department

Disease foundations play an important role in funding early stages of research when other research and investment dollars are scarce. I am impressed by what the Myelin Repair Foundation is doing to encourage collaboration. MRF's model is novel and spot-on in terms of moving innovative research forward. --Gail Maderis, President and CEO, BayBio: Northern California's Life Science Association

The Myelin Repair Foundation has identified the best labs in a defined area and brought them together with excellent and independent minds from the pharmaceutical industry to advance the most promising ideas for novel therapeutics. --Martin Raff, M.D., Emeritus Professor, University College London

Collaborative innovation — bringing together people from different disciplines, with complementary skills — is a powerful strategy for solving complex problems. The MRF's model provides important lessons for the pharmaceutical industry, which faces a crisis of innovation in developing treatments for complex diseases. --Karim R. LakhaniHarvard Business School

Not enough progress has been made, fast enough, toward effective treatments for MS. I am involved with the MRF because I really believe in the methodology: Getting the best people together to solve a really tough problem collaboratively. I truly believe that the MRF offers real hope. --Ted Yednock, Executive Vice President, Head of Global Research, Elan Pharmaceuticals

I believe the most striking accomplishment has been the success of the model. The thought that one could get several excellent basic scientists to work in a united effort with a clinical target in mind is really impressive... Not only has the group worked together, but there are now products of this effort. Very impressive! --Henry F. McFarland, M.D. (Ret.), National Institutes of Health

Your Donation Matters

Our work is made possible by the generous donations of individuals, foundations and corporations who believe in the promise of myelin repair and share our commitment to deliver a new treatment to MS patients as fast as possible.

Please help us maintain our momentum. Your gift today will help us reach the first myelin repair Phase I Clinical Trial by 2014.