MPNRF CELEBRATES 20TH ANNIVERSARY!
December 2020, marks the 20th anniversary of the founding of the MPN Research Foundation (MPNRF). Since day one, we have been working hard to change ET, PV, and MF patients’ lives through funding research, advocating for the unmet needs of MPN patients, and providing educational resources.Whether you’re a patient, caregiver, family member, or friend, you have played a crucial role in the foundation’s enduring success, and for that, we’d like to say thank you! Since 2001, MPNRF has funded over $15 million in MPN research, going to 75 different research projects at more than 43 different institutions. We’re proud to have been a part of several breakthroughs in understanding myeloproliferative neoplasms and will continue to work for as long as we’re needed.
SUPPORT THE FUTURE OF MPN RESEARCH
There is no better way for you to have an impact than by funding it, and finding new therapies is no small task! We look to our community for support to raise as much as possible so we can offer as many grants as possible to promising researchers in the MPN field. With your continued help, we are able to fund five to seven $100,000 grants a year and lead innovative initiatives like our patient registry myMPN, but we need to do more. Your support can help us do more.
Do your holiday shopping on AmazonSmile
As you shop for the holiday season, remember to use Amazon Smile! Designate MPN Research Foundation as your charity, and Amazon will donate 0.5% of what you spend to MPNRF. It adds up fast!
December 1, 2020, is Giving Tuesday. Giving Tuesday is a global movement that inspires hundreds of millions of people worldwide to give, collaborate, and celebrate generosity on the first Tuesday after Thanksgiving. We hope you choose to support the MPN Research Foundation on Giving Tuesday.
Please help us reach a larger audience by liking and sharing our posts on social media and sharing this email with friends and family. We need your help to increase awareness of these cancers and to reach our goal of raising $25,000 from individual donors this holiday season!
OUR STORY
Diagnosed with polycythemia vera in 1997, Chicago businessman Robert Rosen was shocked to discover that little research was being conducted on PV, ET, and MF and that there were no advocacy groups working to assist people with these rare blood cancers.
In 1999, Rosen and a small number of other MPN patients established the MPN Research Foundation (at the time known as MPD Foundation) as a way to catalyze research for advanced treatments for MPN patients. To date, the MPN Research Foundation has awarded more than $15 million for MPN cancer research, focusing on projects that accelerate our understanding of MPNs and lead to the development of new treatment options.
Our history as an organization that was founded by patients for patients continues to influence everything we do. In addition to funding promising MPN research, we work to educate and empower patients, family members, doctors, and researchers across the MPN community. Together, we’re committed to change the prognosis for people living with an MPN.
OUR RESEARCH IMPACT
With over $15 million in funding, going to 75 different research projects at more than 43 different institutions, we have made a significant difference in advancing our understanding of the causes of MPNs, the development of new drug therapies, and cutting edge research that has been published in leading scientific journals.
Our contributions to MPN research have included:
- Developed the MPN Challenge Grant Program a partnership between MPNRF and The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
- Helped develop the SCT Spectrum Timing Tool to guide patient and physician discussions around timing for a stem cell transplant.
- Funded discovery of CALR mutation, found in 73% of JAK2 and MPL negative MPN patients
- Funded first large-scale tissue bank and associated data bank at the Mayo Clinic, enabling rapid testing of new JAK2 inhibiting drugs.
- Funded MPD Research Alliance that enabled pre-clinical studies of JAK inhibitors in animal models of MPN.
- Funded the development of a knock-in JAK2V617 mouse model that enabled the identification of an MPN stem cell population that is not affected by JAK2 Inhibitors. Elimination of these cells will be necessary for a cure.
- Funded a study to understand the basis of interferon, specifically Pegasys, mechanisms of action in treating MPN’s, in anticipation of a phase 3 study of this drug in polycythemia vera patients.
- Submitted data to DBGAP – a full genomic sequencing project for MPN patients that requires data to be deposited in a publicly accessible database for qualified scientists to study and evaluate.