A special advisor to the Charcot-Marie-Tooth Associations (CMTA) board of directors says he will match donations dollar-for-dollar up to $500,000 to support the organizations research strategy to fight the disease he has CMT2.

Bruce Chizen was diagnosed in 2016, after decades of experiencing symptoms. However, his physician discouraged him from undergoing genetic testing because he couldnt do anything about the results.

Unsatisfied, Chizen forged ahead with his quest for more disease information. The first place he turned to was CMTAs website. Since then, hes been grateful for the organizations help and encouraged by its efforts to find a cure that hes vowed to support it however he can.

His initial CMTA donation led to breakfast with his Silicon Valley neighbor and CMTA board chair, Gilles Bouchard. The meeting resulted in him taking on his current role.

A Brooklyn, New York native, Chizen graduated from Brooklyn College where he studied health sciences and planned to become a teacher. However, he learned that he had a head for business, and started out as a Mattel Toys salesman, and then became a Microsoft sales manager in the mid-80s. That was followed by stints at Apple and then Adobe, where he worked for 14 years, seven as CEO.

With his extensive business and nonprofit experience, Chizen appreciates how CMTA is run, calling the organization extremely focused and effective.

Ive seen a lot of waste, the semi-retiree states.

Chizen considers education and community services an essential part of the groups mission, and wants to fortify them. Hes also encouraged by the success of the organizations Strategy to Accelerate Research (STAR), which was created in 2008 with five elements: Assays (tests), animal models, stem cells, partners, and clinical trials. The goal is to find treatments to slow, stop, or reverse CMT progression.

The path to a cure is possible and probable, Chizen said.

Visit this site to double your donations to the organization. Contributions will go to implementing CMTAs new Type 2 strategy, a multi-pronged approach that includes projects on gene therapy, small molecule therapies, axon degeneration pathways, mitofusin activity regulation, and human stem cell studies. The strategy is outlined in the fall issue of The CMTA Report, which focuses exclusively on CMT2 and includes patient profiles. Its available to download here.

CMT2 is caused by genetic defects that disrupt the structure and function of axons of the peripheral nerves. Its less common than CMT1 and accounts for about one-third of all dominant CMT cases.

Mary M. Chapman began her professional career at United Press International, running both print and broadcast desks. She then became a Michigan correspondent for what is now Bloomberg BNA, where she mainly covered the automotive industry plus legal, tax and regulatory issues. A member of the Automotive Press Association and one of a relatively small number of women on the car beat, Chapman has discussed the automotive industry multiple times of National Public Radio, and in 2014 was selected as an honorary judge at the prestigious Cobble Beach Concours dElegance. She has written for numerous national outlets including Time, People, Al-Jazeera America, Fortune, Daily Beast, MSN.com, Newsweek, The Detroit News and Detroit Free Press. The winner of the Society of Professional Journalists award for outstanding reporting, Chapman has had dozens of articles in The New York Times, including two on the coveted front page. She has completed a manuscript about centenarian car enthusiast Margaret Dunning, titled Belle of the Concours.

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Margarida graduated with a BS in Health Sciences from the University of Lisbon and a MSc in Biotechnology from Instituto Superior Tcnico (IST-UL). She worked as a molecular biologist research associate at a Cambridge UK-based biotech company that discovers and develops therapeutic, fully human monoclonal antibodies.

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Research Gets Boost With CMTA's Matching Donation Challenge - Charcot-Marie-Tooth News

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