Why on earth has myeloma had such recent progress in life expectancy and survival? We would like to think that it is the efforts of the excellent myeloma specialists that have been diligently working to save our butts, and it is. But guess what, they can not do it without exceptional treatment tools. How do they get these great treatment tools? Research and clinical trials is the mechanism that has been used to develop these tools, and what do we need to accomplish these activities? Of course it is MONEY!!!! As my old boss used to tell me "YOU WILL GET WHAT YOU INCENT!" There are a few people who really understand this philosophy. I believe one person that really understands this concept is Kathy Giusti, the co-founder of the MMRF (Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation). Kathy, a graduate of Harvard Business School and a pharmaceutical executive, used her business acumen to establish a results based system to speed up the development of new drugs so desperately needed to extend patient lives and ultimately to find the cure. You can find a wealth of information at their web site http://www.themmrf.org/ You can donate there also.
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To get an idea of the impact of the MMRF's efforts you need only to look at the single largest funding agency, the National Cancer Institute. The National Cancer Institute in 2010 had $5.1 billion dollars to allocate for research and Myeloma got just over 1% of the total or $55 million. So the MMRF has now delivered over 4 times the annual amount of the largest funding agency, the federal government.
Lest I forget, it is the efforts of many individuals that contribute their time, resources and yes, money in small and large amounts that make up the $225 million. A few that I have knowledge of include:
- Eric Gelber - who is part of the MMRF Power Bike Team and they have collected over $50,000. and you can see his link if you CLICK HERE.
- Kendra Goffredo - Who has collected over $55,000 for the MMRF, and you can see Kendra's link if you CLICK HERE.
This is just a small sample of the thousands of individuals who provide the financial support to keep the new research and development on track. Thanks to all of your selfless efforts, and together we will SAVE LIFE/Gary Petersen editor@myelomasurvival.com
For more information on multiple myeloma go to the web site www.myelomasurvival.com or you can follow me on twitter at: https://twitter.com/grpetersen1