Believe
in
HOPE
Hope Happens for
Neurological Disorders
Mission Statement
Hope Happens for Neurological Disorders
brings hope to patients with neurodegenerative diseases such as ALS, Alzheimer’s
disease, MS, Parkinson’s and Huntington’s
diseases, muscular dystrophy, cerebral
palsy, epilepsy, stroke, brain and spinal
cord injury by financially supporting
cutting-edge research in diseases that
share common underlying causes.
Hope Center for
Neurological Disorders
Mission Statement
To improve the lives of people living with
neurological disorders, through discovery
of fundamental mechanisms of neurodegeneration that translate new understanding
into treatments and cures.
World-class scientists at the Hope Center for Neurological
Disorders at Washington University School of Medicine have
the skills and vision necessary to attack these crippling diseases.
Hope Happens has a mission to raise the necessary funds to
support their research.
Believe
in
DREAMS
Chris Hobler, founder of ALS Hope, lost his battle
against ALS at age 39 in 2005.
Once Chris received his ALS diagnosis in 2001, he
became determined to create change in the way
research for ALS and related neurological disorders
was funded and conducted in response to doctors
telling him there is no hope and nothing he could
do. Chris founded ALS Hope – The Chris Hobler/
James Maritz Foundation later that year. He
initiated a campaign to wage war against the
devastating neuromuscular disease.
The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty
of their dreams.
— Eleanor Roosevelt
In the fall of 2004, Chris’ dream was realized...
ALS Hope became Hope Happens for Neurological
Disorders. Among its accomplishments was the
founding of the Hope Center for Neurological
Disorders, a collaboration with the Washington
University School of Medicine in St. Louis. “Instead
of viewing this as a tragedy, I try to view it as an
opportunity,” Chris once told an interviewer about
his condition. “If I hadn’t been stricken with ALS,
I would have spent my life with my music. Now
I have the opportunity to do something even
more important.”
The glory of friendship is not
the outstretched hand, nor the
kindly smile nor the joy of
companionship; it is the spiritual
inspiration that comes to one
when he discovers that someone
else believes in him and is willing
to trust him.
— Ralph Waldo Emerson
Quotes from The Selected
Writings of Ralph
Waldo Emerson
Believe
in
A BETTER QUALITY
OF LIFE
As President of Hope Happens,
Toby Martin is dedicated to the
mission to improve the lives of
people with neurodegenerative
disorders by promoting collaborative research with the potential
to fast track new treatments
and cures.
“Translational research requires
a commitment to innovation and speed that HOPE
HAPPENS is dedicated to pursuing. It was the goal of the
founder, Chris Hobler, to create change in the “system”
of research and focus on effective new treatments that
can help give Hope now – not when it is too late. This is
the essence of why we are continuing Chris’ wishes.”
Toby Martin
President, Hope Happens for Neurological Disorders
As the Director of the Hope
Center for Neurological Disorders
at Washington University School
of Medicine, Alison Goate, DPhil,
knows first hand why leadingedge research has such an impact
on improving the lives of patients
and their families.
“I am certainly optimistic that we
will improve the lives of people
and families with these diseases because we are on the
right track to developing new treatments and more
effective diagnostics. While I cannot promise anything
tomorrow, I certainly see this in the future. This is
something that everybody in the Hope Center is working very hard towards.”
Alison Goate, DPhil
Director, Hope Center for Neurological Disorders
(Neurological research information highlighted
on the reverse side.)
Believe
in
DISCOVERIES
Hope Happens for
Neurological Disorders…
COLLABORATES with the Hope Center for Neurological Disorders by financially supporting their
research on all neurodegenerative diseases;
FACILITATES new treatments and cures through
our donors who generously invest in the future of
neurological research;
FUNDS innovative disease-focused research
through creative ways so our donors can
participate in giving;
TRANSLATES the donations we receive to bring
neurological research from bench to bedside…
providing hope to patients and their families.
Hope Center for
Neurological Disorders…
COLLABORATES internally to promote interactions
across diseases, departments and disciplines with
the best physicians and scientists;
FACILITATES new treatments and cures through
advanced research resources and shared facilities
to find similarities in all of the neurological disorders;
INNOVATES pioneering research in brain diseases,
training scientists and speeding the dissemination
of information about neurological disorders;
TRANSLATES their funding to rapidly move
promising discoveries towards diagnosis, treatment
and cures through research.
Believe
Believe
in
THE FUTURE
in
SUPPORTING
THE CAUSE
Contributions of
Cash and Securities
Cash and stock gifts may be made or pledged to
Hope Happens for Neurological Disorders in the
following ways:
Annual Gifts — Suggested giving levels are:
Supporter of Hope Happens $100-$499
Friends of Hope Happens
$500-$999
Hope Society $1,000-$25,000 and over
The Hope Society
Please join the Hope Society and be part of our special
group of donors who are recognized for their annual
contributions of $1,000 or more. Any donation in
the calendar year including Evening of Hope tickets,
patron and sponsorship levels are recognized as part
of your Hope Society membership. Hope Society
members are recognized in our annual publication of
donors, invited to a special event thanking donors at
this level as well as educational programs and tours of
the Hope Center for Neurological Disorders.
STOCKS AND SECURITIES: Please obtain instructions to transfer stock or other equities to Hope
Happens at 314.725-3888 or [email protected]
TRIBUTE GIFTS: Tributes are made in honor or
in memory of someone. Notification is promptly
mailed to inform honorees or families of the
tribute made.
PLANNED GIFTS: Contributions of significant
assets may be made during a donor’s lifetime or
posthumously through planned giving. Hope Happens accepts gift annuities, charitable lead trusts
and charitable remainder trusts along with estate
documents such as wills and bequests.
How can you help?
Your gift to Hope Happens for Neurological Disorders
speeds the search for new treatments and cures by…
H
elping the physicians and scientists rapidly test
the most promising future treatments,
O
ffering initial funding for innovative research
projects,
P
roviding financial resources for state-of-theart equipment to increase the speed and accuracy
of experiments,
E
nabling Hope Happens to financially support
the Hope Center for Neurological Disorders at
Washington University School of Medicine; to
recruit and train the world’s leading scientists who
will make the breakthrough discoveries that will
give back the quality of life to patients afflicted
with neurodegenerative diseases.
If Hope Center researchers find a treatment or cure
for one disease, it could cross over in their findings to
help the other neurological diseases.
Through research and discoveries, hope becomes a
reality…a reality for new treatments and cures. Your
donation to Hope Happens for Neurological Disorders
can make a difference for the patients, their families
and future generations… all will benefit from these
miraculous breakthroughs.
101 S. Hanley • Suite 1320
St. Louis, Missouri 63105
314.725.3888 • 314.725.3892 Fax
[email protected]
www.hopehappens.org
Robert Boston / Washington University in St. Louis,Medical Public Affairs
in
HOPE
Research taking place at the Hope Center for Neurological
Disorders in the BJC Institute of Health.
Hope
in NEW TREATMENTS
Hope Center for
Neurological Disorders
Research Highlights
• Protein aggregates underlie the pathogenesis of
many disorders including ALS, Alzheimer’s disease
and hereditary myopathies.
• Understand the biochemical and cell biological
processes that control metabolism of proteins that
misfold in neurodegenerative disorders.
• ALS leads to dysfunction and loss of neurons in
the motor pathways of the brain and spinal cord.
• We developed a novel high throughput screening
platform to repurpose FDA approved drugs that
enhance the clearance and degradation of these
pathologic inclusions.
• Use animal models of neurodegenerative disorders
to better understand disease pathogenesis and to
develop treatments.
• Perform translational studies in humans to
understand metabolism of proteins prone to
aggregate in neurodegenerative disorders in order to
develop better diagnostic and treatment methods.
• One cause of ALS is mutation within the
SOD1 gene.
• Targeting and “turning-off” the SOD1 gene is
predicted to ameliorate disease in patients with
SOD1 mutations. The Miller Lab is using antisense
oligonucleotides to turn off the SOD1 gene and
showed very promising results in animal models.
A Phase I Clinical Trial using this approach is now
underway in 32 patients with SOD1-related ALS.
• These studies will streamline drug discovery and
translate more rapidly into patient care.
ALLISON GOATE, DPhil, Director of the Hope
Center for Neurological Disorders and David
Holtzman, MD, Chairman, Department of
Neurology, Washington University School of Medicine,
are co-directors of HPAN, 22 affiliated labs in the
BJC Institute of Health.
• Directly measure the pathophysiology of
Alzheimer’s disease.
• Pioneered a new technique to measure amyloidbeta metabolism in humans.
• New markers of disease: “nano-flow mass
spectrometry and in vivo labeling techniques.”
Timothy Miller, MD and Erica Koval,
graduate student in Dr. Miller’s Lab, are working on
“Gene Down-Regulation as a Therapy for ALS.”
“We are both defining pathways involved in neurodegenerative disease and developing novel ways to target
known pathways, thus providing new therapies.”
Timothy Miller, MD
“Our lab studies the fundamental pathological defects
in neuromuscular disorders with a goal to identify
therapies that will correct it in patients.”
Chris Weihl, MD
A BETTER
QUALITY
OF LIFE
DISCOVERIES
Believe
Chris Weihl, MD and Rodrigo
Fuentealba, post doc in Dr. Weihl’s Lab,
working on “Molecular Mechanisms of Protein Inclusion
Formation and Clearance.”
And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.
HOPE
DREAMS
• ALS Therapeutics: gene down-regulation strategies
to understand disease pathogenesis and develop
novel treatments.
Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune--without the words,
And never stops at all,
On the cover: This confocal image demonstrates how amyloid deposits
(purple) correlate with disruption of cerebrovascular smooth muscle cells
(red) in the brain. Investigating the pathological effects of amyloid-β on
cerebral arteries may lead to new therapies for patients with Alzheimer’s
disease and cerebral amyloid angiopathy. This image is prepared by
Hope Center scientists Henry Han, PhD and Gregory Zipfel, MD.
CURES...
MEET THE FACES OF HOPE
• Discover genetic alterations that lead to familial
forms of neurodegenerative disease or alter disease
risk for sporadic cases.
Emily Dickinson
I’ve heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.
&
Believe in
Believe Believe
RandALL Bateman, MD and Kwasi
Mawuenyega, staff scientist, in Dr. Bateman’s
Lab, working on Alzheimer’s Disease diagnostics
and treatments.
“Our research may provide new targets for Alzheimer’s
disease treatments and may also provide a blood
test for Alzheimer’s disease.”
Randall Bateman, MD
SUPPORTING
THE CAUSE
THE FUTURE