Today the Muscular Dystrophy
Association (MDA) hosted its 46th annual telethon, the
first without its poster boy, Jerry Lewis. The broadcast raised 61.5
million dollars for its array of services related to neuromusuclar
disorders like muscular dystrophy and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
The MDA is vague about its origins. The
website states that the association “was created in 1950 by a group
of adults with muscular dystrophy, parents of children with muscular
dystrophy and a physician-scientist
studying the disorder.” Whoever helped jump-start and
manage the organization did an excellent job. The MDA is incredibly
visible and vocal. The website lists abundant corporate sponsors:
7-Eleven, Taco Bell, 7UP, Harley Davidson, etc.. The telethon
attracts the public eye with its celebrity hosts: this year alone
Celine Dion, Boyz II Men, Jennifer Lopez, Barbra Walters, Whoopi
Goldberg, and Dwight Howard donated some face-time.
I want to know how the MDA is so
successful and how this success can be transferred to other
conditions.
Physician scientists in-training learn
how to do science: research, generating data; write grants, acquiring
funding; write papers, publicizing our findings. Physician
scientists, for the most part, stick within that system, writing
grants and papers. I want to know how things work outside of the
system; how the government and private institutions obtain funding;
and how they fund the research that interests them.
A recent and interesting example of
organization-driven research is the California Institute of
Regenerative Medicine (CIRM). CIRM, California State-funded research
initiative, was passed in 2004 as Prop 71. Over ten years, CIRM will
distribute three billion dollars worth of grants to human embryonic
stem cell researchers. While CIRM has not provided any immediate
cures, it has driven a lot of fascinating basic research that would
have not been funded in past years due to the controversial Dickey
Amendment.
How did CIRM come into existence? With
a lot of hard work, money, and star power. See Robert Klein, Bill
Gates, Micheal J. Fox. Maybe it's time for me to start networking...
I do live in LA.
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