WELCOME

Welcome to the Foundation to Eradicate Duchenne, a 501c(3) organization established in 2002 with the goal of finding treatments and an ultimate cure for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, the world's leading lethal childhood genetic disease.

The Foundation to Eradicate Duchenne was established by Dana and Joel Wood of Alexandria, Virginia. Their son James Wood, now six, was diagnosed in May 2000 with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. The Woods are both lobbyists in Washington, D.C., and have devoted much of their time and energies to this cause, working with others to achieve millions of dollars in federal earmarks for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy research and a significant increase in the attention devoted to DMD at the National Institutes of Health. Additionally, through the FED and other fundraising efforts, they have raised approximately $1.7 million in private donations since James was diagnosed.

The Woods were joined in this effort early by their longtime friends Monica and David Heil, both of whom work for members of Congress on Capitol Hill, and had contributed to the cause even back in 2000. In a sad irony that in November, 2003, their own six-year-old son, Alex, was also diagnosed with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy at Children's National Medical Center. They now have joined in partnership with the Wood family to do everything that they can to seek treatments for this horribly cruel disease.

There are other wonderful organizations throughout the world devoted to Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy research, and we applaud the commitment of so many scientific teams and so many contributors who dedicate their work to this cause. The Foundation to Eradicate Duchhene portfolio is at once both expansive and ambitious, yet at the same time relatively narrowly focused – both short-term and long-term in its goals. Since its inception, the overwhelming majority of the funds spent by the Foundation to Eradicate Duchenne have gone to the muscular dystrophy lab at Children's National Medical Center (CNMC) in Washington, and to the Cooperative International Neuromuscular Research Group (CINRG), which is the only human clinical trials network for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy in the world, and was established by the scientists at CNMC.

Top