President’s Message

January 4, 2012

Scott Johnson, Myelin Repair Foundation President and Founder … waiting for a cure since 1976

MRF Opens a New Translational Medicine Center

2012 is going to be a very exciting year for the MRF and myelin repair! I am extremely pleased to announce that the MRF has opened a new Translational Medicine Center just a few miles from our office. This Center will provide dedicated laboratory space staffed by MRF personnel, separate from the eight academic labs we already fund.

As you know, the research we have funded at Stanford, the University of Chicago, Northwestern University and Case Western Reserve has produced a number of potential myelin repair treatment targets. However, we recognized some time ago that moving these discoveries forward toward commercial development would require the establishment of a rigorous, industry-standard translational medicine platform.

Over the past year, we have expanded the MRF staff to include Dr. Tassie Collins as our Director of Translational Medicine and Dr. Jason Dugas as Senior Research Scientist, to build on the assays necessary to initiate the drug discovery process. Under the direction of our Vice President of Drug Discovery and Research Operations, Dr. Jay Tung, we now have a stellar team with a comprehensive plan and a first rate facility in place to do just that.

MRF team members (left to right): Dr. Michael Pleiss, Chairman of MRF’s Drug Discovery Advisory Board; Dr. Jay Tung, Vice President of Drug Discovery and Research Operations; Dr. Jason Dugas, Senior Research Scientist; Dr. Tassie Collins, Director of Translational Medicine; Scott Johnson, President and Founder

Once developed, our Translational Medicine Platform can be used to evaluate myelin repair discoveries made in any lab, anywhere in the world. Opening this Center coincides with an increasing number of companies seeking access to MRF developed assays to evaluate their own myelin repair discoveries.

None of this would be possible without the generous support of our community of donors and friends who believe in the promise of myelin repair and that the MRF’s accelerated model is the most promising way to get there.

At this time we are actively raising the necessary funds to support the development of our Translational Medicine Platform. You can learn more about this exciting new undertaking here. As is true with all of the MRF’s work, the more support that we receive, the faster and better outcomes we can produce. Your gift will help make a difference. Please donate today.

Scott Johnson
President