It is hard to believe that we are here — in the throes of the “magic” of the holiday season. 2020 has not felt much like magic. Instead, a roller coaster of unpredictability and worry. But it is also clear, our Duchenne community is vibrant, inspirational, and resilient. We continue to believe, to hope, and to move forward.

In this uncertain time, I’ve been contemplating how to bring more predictability to our day-to-day. How can we learn more about the course Duchenne will take? Is there a way to look at the years of data we’ve worked so hard to collect and determine why people progress differently and what therapies might work on certain people? These are questions that I know are essential to this community.

With these questions in mind, I am proud to announce PPMD’s Biomarker Initiative, and we need YOUR help. The first step of this Initiative is to define a Duchenne Protein Map to find patterns that can identify change. Our goal is $400,000 to fund the Duchenne Protein Mapping Project.

We will bring together years of clinical data, and analyze blood and urine collected during these studies to identify and map circulating proteins. This is a novel partnership that brings together SomaLogic’s technology, Imaging DMD, and Leiden University along with every family who has contributed to these studies. With this multi-pronged approach, we will further define how Duchenne progresses, and why.

We are excited and thankful to have community partners Team Joseph, Little Hercules Foundation, Ryan’s Quest, and Another Day for Gray, who also recognize the critical need for this work. Together these partners have committed to doubling every gift made by the PPMD community this holiday season, up to $200,000. We are grateful for this support, and hope that you will take this opportunity to double your impact today!

The investment and sacrifices this community has already made through blood, sweat, and tears is recognized. It may even have given us the elements we need to understand disease progression. For everyone living with Duchenne, from newly diagnosed to adult, working to unlock these answers by mapping these proteins will be critical. With your support, we can unleash the breakthroughs in this data.

Happy holidays, and thank you for being part of our family. We appreciate all you do to keep our community moving toward a day when we end Duchenne.

Sincerely,

Pat Furlong
Founding President & CEO

P.S. Supporting the Duchenne Protein Mapping Project this holiday season could lead to unlocking information about disease progression and creating breakthroughs for this community. Join us with a donation today.

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