National Multiple Sclerosis Society: Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation awards $40,000 research grant to National Multiple Sclerosis Society-Wisconsin chapter

Additional Information:
Mary Hartwig 262.369.4414 (office) 414.254.4854 (cell)
mary.hartwig@wisMS.org

(HARTLAND, WI)-
The National Multiple Sclerosis Society-Wisconsin Chapter announced the receipt of a $40,000 grant from the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation to fund vital multiple sclerosis (MS) research in Wisconsin. The grant is part of the Wisconsin Chapter’s recent Research Challenge Match fundraising campaign, which generated $450,000 in five months to benefit seven MS research projects based in Wisconsin. The grant was matched by two local philanthropists who privately donated $150,000 toward the campaign.

“We are honored to have the support of the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation and other Wisconsin philanthropists to complete our Research Challenge Match campaign,” said Colleen G. Kalt, President and CEO of the National MS Society-Wisconsin Chapter. “Advances in MS research have positively impacted the lives of more than 10,000 people diagnosed with MS in Wisconsin,” she added. “The gift from the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation helps further our mission to mobilize people and resources to drive research for a cure and to address the challenges of everyone affected by MS.”

Since its founding in 1946, the National MS Society has funded more than $550 million in research. The Society is recognized as the largest nonprofit funder of MS research in the world. This ground-breaking research has resulted in the development of six disease-modifying drugs and myriad new medical treatments to reinvigorate, empower and improve the quality of life for those living with MS. The National MS Society presently invests nearly $6 million to support seven research projects in Wisconsin – six at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and one at Marquette University. The gift from the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation helps guarantee that the critical work of these Wisconsin-based MS researchers will continue.

MS interrupts the flow of information from the brain to the body and stops people from moving. It is an unpredictable, often disabling disease of the central nervous system. Symptoms range from numbness and tingling to blindness and paralysis. Most people are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 50, with MS two to three times more common in women than men. With one-in-500 diagnosed, Wisconsin has one of the highest incidence rates of MS in the U.S. While the progress, severity and specific symptoms of MS in any one person cannot yet be predicted, advances in research and treatment are giving hope to those affected by the disease.

Multiple sclerosis stops people from moving. The National Multiple Sclerosis Society exists to make sure it doesn’t. Through ground-breaking research initiatives, programs designed to address the challenges of living with MS, and advocating for improved public policy, the Society is dedicated to a world free of MS.

For more information on the National MS Society-Wisconsin Chapter, visit www.wisMS.org.