About MDA
MDA is the nonprofit health agency dedicated to curing muscular dystrophy, ALS and related diseases by funding worldwide research. The Association also provides comprehensive health care and support services, advocacy and education.
Over 76 cents of every dollar MDA spends goes directly to research, services and education. MDA has the most comprehensive program of any voluntary health agency in the country. MDA is the first nonprofit recognized by the American Medical Association with a Lifetime Achievement Award "for significant and lasting contributions to the health and welfare of humanity."
RESEARCH GRANTS
MDA annually funds 330 research teams worldwide, spending more than $38 million a year, pursuing treatments and cures for muscular dystrophy and other related muscle diseases. This represents the largest single initiative to advance current knowledge of neuromuscular diseases and to find cures and treatments for this group of diseases.
MDA investigators have placed the Association on the threshold of delivering treatments and cures for several neuromuscular disorders, and they have pioneered breakthroughs that may lead to therapies for heart disease, cancer, AIDS and Alzheimer's disease.
The Association is the country's largest private-sector sponsor of muscular dystrophy research; in the last five years, MDA has invested more than $190 million in research.
SERVICES
MDA offers unparalleled medical and health services through its nationwide network of more than 200 clinics and more than 35 MDA/ALS Centers. Services include diagnosis and follow-up care, summer camps, support groups, assistance with obtaining and repairing of all types of medical durable equipment, including wheelchairs, leg braces and communication devices, and more.
In the last five years, MDA has provided more than $2.3 million in services to over 2,500 individuals living in Massachusetts.
SUMMER CAMPS
Children ages 6-17 who are registered with MDA enjoy a free camp adventure at MDA's more than 80 weeklong summer camp sessions each summer. Each camper is accompanied by a volunteer counselor who provides the care, supervision and attention children with muscular diseases need.
It costs MDA an average of $800 per camper to send a child to a fully-adaptive summer camp for a week.
MDA annually sponsors 80 weeklong summer camp sessions, serving more than 4,000 children across the country and in Puerto Rico.
CLINICS
Tens of thousands of visits are made each year to MDA's nationwide network of more than 200 clinics and more than 35 ALS research and clinical care centers for diagnostic and follow-up health care services.
There are seven MDA clinic locations in Massachusetts:
Children's Hospital Boston; Massachusetts General Hospital (also site of an MDA/ALS center); Brigham and Women's Hospital and TUFTS Medical Center Hospital in Boston; Lahey Clinic Foundation Inc. in Burlington; Baystate medical Center in Springfield; and UMass Memorial Medical Center (also site of an MDA/ALS center) in Worcester.
CLINIC RESEARCH NETWORK
MDA has set up, through a commitment of $1 million a year, 10 elite MDA medical clinics to speed and support research focused on ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) and Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). Massachusetts has two of these centers, Massachusetts General in Boston focused on ALS and Boston Children's Hospital for DMD.
SUPPORT GROUPS
More than 250 MDA-facilitated support groups meet year-round, helping thousands of individuals and families. Massachusetts residents also can participate in informal "Phone Friends" networks and take advantage of MDA's online ecommunity.
LANDMARK INITIATIVES IN MASSACHUSETTS
The Boston Biomedical Research Institute was selected as one of eight Senator Paul D. Wellstone Muscular Dystrophy Cooperative Research Centers. The establishment of these centers resulted from the passage of the MDA-backed MD-CARE Act in 2001. The first three, which are co-funded by NIH and MDA, are located at the University of Washington-Seattle, the University of Rochester (N.Y.) and the University of Pittsburgh. This center is conducting projects that explore basic biological mechanisms that relate to possible treatments for muscular dystrophies, encourage the translation of research from lab to clinic, and provide advanced diagnostic services.
For more information, please visit www.mda.org or www.als-mda.org.
