Strongly


An expression of the live unlimited spirit, stories and voices of the MDA community

A Year of Progress and Promise

MDA began 2016 with an ambitious blueprint, full of changes and improvements — all designed to help us fulfill our mission promise to free individuals and families from the harmful effects of muscular dystrophy and related life-threatening diseases. Now, we reflect on our accomplishments and give thanks to our supporters.

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CMS Study Seeks Participants

Researchers are looking for people with congenital myasthenic syndrome (CMS) to participate in a phase 3 study being conducted by Catalyst Pharmaceuticals to test the experimental drug amifampridine phosphate.

Amifampridine phosphate is a potassium channel inhibitor designed to cause greater stimulation of muscle by prolonging nerve signals and is expected to help treat muscle weakness in people with CMS. The drug has shown promising results in treating patients with a related disorder called LEMS.

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Boy with juvenile dermatomyositis scores a touchdown

For more than 60 years, firefighters have teamed with MDA to fight back against muscular dystrophy, ALS and related life-threatening diseases.

For one firefighter, the cause became very personal when his son, Chandler Mallen, was diagnosed with juvenile dermatomyositis, a neuromuscular disease that involves inflammation of the muscles. When Chandler asked his father — Scott, a firefighter who has collected donations for MDA’s Fill the Boot program for almost 25 years — if he’d lose the use of his legs, he didn’t wait for an answer.

“Even if I do,” Chandler said, “I’ll never stop trying.”

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