[Accelerated Cure Project Status] Status for March 2008

[Art Mellor]

Accelerated Cure Project informal status for the month of March 2008

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>>> Joining/Leaving Us This Month

o Melissa O'Shea has stepped down as Development Director and is now a
  member of our Board of Advisors.  You can check out her new venture at:

  http://www.shoeclub.us

o Joining us as our new Development Director is Seth Matheson. You can
  read his bio here:

  http://www.acceleratedcure.org/about/people.php?section=2&id=90

o Kristin O'Donnell has move from part-time to full-time

>>> Research

Repository:

o We now have 1059 subjects enrolled at our six collection sites

  http://www.acceleratedcure.org/repository/status.php

o We were invited to contribute samples to an international
  collaborative effort funded by the Wellcome Trust; this effort will
  conduct a whole-genome screen on DNA samples from thousands of
  people with MS

o We approved the distribution of samples and data to Dr. Alberto
  Ascherio of the Harvard School of Public Health -- his project will
  investigate genes relating to vitamin D

o Our collection site at the Barrow Neurological Institute has
  received approval from their ethics board to conduct repeat
  (longitudinal) visits

o The Rocky Mountain MS Center will become a collection site later
  this year. The Tyler Hamilton Foundation will be running a bike ride
  to raise funds to sponsor this site. More information as we get
  details. 

o If you live in the Seattle area (or would like to go to a great
  MS/TM/NMO meeting there) - you can enroll in our repository for a
  short time this summer. Check out The 3rd International Rare
  Neuroimmunologic Disorders Symposium July 16 - 19, 2008

  http://dev.esg.us/Seattle/

Other Science Efforts:

o Art and Hollie talked with David Lee of the Foundation for the NIH 
  about their biomarkers initiative

o Hollie spoke with Kim McAllister of the NIEHS about their efforts to
  fund the development of computational methods for finding
  gene/environment interactions in data sets like ours

o We continued to develop the study protocol that emerged from our 
  meeting at the Banbury Center

o Hollie, Art and Sara met with Alan Ruttenberg of Science Commons about 
  his ideas on ontology and data mining

o Art and Hollie met with Rusty Bromley of the Myelin Repair Foundation 
  about teaming up to add brain/spinal cord samples to our repository

>>> Education

o Poll - If a pill could be made that would cure only one MS symptom,
  which would you pick? 

  http://msnews.acceleratedcure.org/node/3174

o We continue our daily MS News updates

  http://msnews.acceleratedcure.org

>>> Fundraising

o The Water Cove Charitable Foundation's $1
  million matching challenge has been set again this year.

  All contributions of $1,000 or more will be matched dollar for
  dollar.  All pledges of $1,000 or more made for 3 or more years will
  be double matched in the first year

  Anyone increasing their largest previous $1,000 or more gift by
  $1,000 or more will have the additional amount matched by a
  multiplier of 1.5 in addition to the single match of the base
  amount. If pledged for 3 or more years they will get the usual
  double match plus the additional amount will be matched one
  additional time

  If you can't pledge $1,000, gifts of any size always help.  For more
  details contact Seth Matheson 781/487-0011 or seth at acceleratedcure.org

>>> Community Building

o We had meetings with the following people:

  - Jane and Seth met with employees at Sun Life to present
    Accelerated Cure Project volunteer opportunities and introduce
    them to the organization.
  - Art met with Greg Simon at FasterCures
  - Art met with people at the  Leonard Florence Center

o As always, a few more T-shirt pictures are available:
  http://www.acceleratedcure.org/events/tshirt.php

>>> Events

Detailed information about all of our upcoming events can be found on
our web site: http://www.acceleratedcure.org/events/calendar.php
 
o April 19: The Medeiros Family 6th Annual Sports Scholarship and MS
  Research Fundraiser, held in loving memory of Edmund Medeiros, is a
  great night out taking place in Somerville, MA and featuring dinner,
  music, dancing, and chances to win fun raffle and silent auction
  items.

  http://www.acceleratedcure.org/events/eventpages/20080419_medeiros.php

o April 21: Our 2008 Boston Marathon Team is actively training and
  fundraising!  Read about our eleven runners and what's inspiring them
  to go the distance to raise money for Accelerated Cure Project:

  http://expansion.acceleratedcure.org/bosmar08/default.asp
  http://www.acceleratedcure.org/events/eventpages/20080421_marathon.php

o May 10: "Let's Accelerate the Cure..." is a walk/run organized by 
  teams "Kick MS For Karen" and "Marching for Mann" to get the 
  Cincinnati community together to raise $$$$ for the fight against 
  Multiple Sclerosis!

  http://expansion.acceleratedcure.org/kick_ms_for_karen

o May 31: Our 7th Annual Hunt to Cure MS Scavenger Hunt will be held
  starting at the Skellig in Waltham again. Register now at:

  http://www.acceleratedcure.org/events/eventpages/20080531_hunt.php

o October 4: The 3rd Annual Canine Happy Hour to Benefit Accelerate
  Cure Project will take place in Cincinnati, OH. Mark your calendar
  and stayed tuned for more details!

o November 7: Save the date for the 2nd Annual Dance to Cure MS in
  Windham, NH, a fun night out for adults coming together to
  socialize, dance and eat, but most importantly to give hope and
  support to those who have Multiple Sclerosis.

o November 22: Save the date for the 2008 Accelerated Cure Project 
  Annual Event which will be held in a NEW LOCATION: The Doubletree 
  Guest Suites in Waltham, MA.  See the website for more details: 

  http://www.acceleratedcure.org/events/eventpages/20081122_acpevent.php

>>> Previous Events

o March 15: The Saint Patrick's Day party in Bucks County, PA was a
  fantastic time, raising over $10,000!! Guests enjoyed great food,
  live music, and a lucky winner walked away with a trip to Ireland!
  Many thanks to Sharon Victor and her tremendous dedication in
  organizing the event.

o March 27: Accelerated Cure Project for Multiple Sclerosis and
  MSFriends teamed up to raise over $8,000 at Reflecting, a joint
  fundraiser at Gallery 291 in San Francisco, CA.  Special thanks to
  Ed Carey of Gallery 291 and Penni Tsavaris for helping make this
  event a success!

>>> Operations

o The 2007 Annual Report is complete!  Printing copies have been 
  mailed out to those who gave $250+ in 2007.  It is available online 
  here: 

  http://www.acceleratedcure.org/downloads/acp-annualreport-2007.pdf 

o The Spring 2007 Newsletter is now available!  If you're on the 
  mailing list, watch for it in your mailbox in the coming weeks.  If 
  you would like to see it online, go here:

  http://www.acceleratedcure.org/news/newsletter.php

>>> Volunteers Reporting Time Last Month

o St. Patrick's Day Party to Cure MS 2008
  Sharon Victor

o Sing to Cure MS 2008
  Marion Leeds Carroll

o Scavenger Hunt 2008
  Jennifer Downing
  Emily Collins
  Meaghan Shaw
  Claudia Abbes
  Rebecca Peterson
  Jeff Shapiro
  Debbie Mellor
  Jeff Shapiro
  Steve Brown
  Kelly Novak
  Debbie Zuppa
  Louise Civetti

o Reflecting SF 2008
  Ed Carey
  Katrina Lewis
  Scott Tamosunas
  Penni Tsavaris
  Amy Burkhardt
  Brian Barkwell
  Marie Slevin
  Vicki Fraser

o MS Social Salinas 2008
  Helen Chow

o Letter Writing Campaign
  Richard O'Conner
  Katrina Lewis

o Kick MS for Karen 2008
  Jack Ankenbauer
  Debbie Mann
  Linda Como

o Donor Database Project
  Joan Coyne
  Dave Kaffine

o Dance to Cure MS 2008
  Deb DuFault

o Canine Happy Hour 2008
  Debbie Mann

o Community Building
  Pat Phelps

o Barbara Ann Cohen Katz Memorial Fund
  Nancy Katz Eder
  Debra Lynne

o Admin
  Bonnie Hakkinen
  Kelly Novak
  Andrea Morris

o Accelerated Strides for MS 2008
  Nancy Costello

o Contributed Goods & Services
  Clockwork Design Group, Inc.
  DivcoWest Real Estate Services
  Kirkwood Printing
  Nancy Tam
  Red Spot Printing
  RIS Paper

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