The Parent Project for Muscular Dystrophy Research Inc
Hi, Once a year, I reach out to Cisco community to support a cause: Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD). My 13 year old second son, Anooj is a typical middle scholler, who likes to be silly most of the time. He likes playing roblox and watching Star Wars movie. He was diagnosed few years back, to have DMD. A short 3 min video on Introduction to DMD (https://vimeo.com/133337162). It is a seriously progressive, and fatal genetic disease, which causes progressive muscle loss and function, including respiratory and heart function. This occurs only among 1 in 3500, affecting mostly boys. To date, there is no cure or treatment to stop the progression of Duchenne. We feel so fortunate that we live in a time that medical research is achieving huge success. There are on-going promising research/clinical trials in the pipeline, which are mostly funded by government. But in the last few years the government funding is declining. Since it is a rare disease, there is not much interest among private pharmaceutical companies, as there won't be much profits. So, fund-raising by parents, is the main source that go towards research to find a cure. I am member of, Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy (PPMD), a charity organization run by parent volunteers. Please support me as I participate in the Las Vegas, Rock'n'Roll, Half Marathon as part of PPMD's Run For Our Sons, Team Anooj. Together, we will go the distance to end Duchenne. Anooj and other boys with Duchenne are truly in a race against time as their muscles deteriorate further each day. Please help us put an end to the devastating disorder by making a donation. - Bobby Vandalore