The
Marta Marx Fund for the Eradication of Scleroderma
 Most
patient-oriented research in the U.S. is funded by the
pharmaceutical industry. Scleroderma, as an "orphan
disease," has not traditionally attracted much
support or interest.
One man and
one woman decided to do something about this.
In 2000,
the late Rudolph Juhl, a New York stockbroker, honored
his sister, Marta Marx (The Estate of Marta Marx gave
a multi-million dollar gift to our research program
in 2002), with the largest gift ever made to the Scleroderma
Foundation—a $3.8 million bequest to establish
the Marta Marx Fund for the Eradication of Scleroderma.
Mr. Juhl's bequest fulfilled a longstanding promise.
Many years ago, Mr. Juhl wrote to Marie Coyle, then
President of the Scleroderma Association of New England,
expressing his frustration that drug companies were
not doing more to promote research on the cause and
cure for scleroderma. Thus began a correspondence, which
culminated in a vow by Rudolph Juhl that when he died
he would leave money to be used solely for scleroderma
research.
In September
2000 the Foundation convened a blue-ribbon group of
scleroderma experts in Pittsburgh to plan how to put
these new funds to work. As a result, we have now increased
our grant amounts and added an overhead expense component.
In honor of Mr. Juhl’s gift, the Foundation has
designated the Marta Marx Fund for the Eradication of
Scleroderma Award to be presented to a recipient of
a research grant whose score ranks among the top two
scored proposals.
We need more
generous gifts like Rudolph Juhl's to accomplish the
ultimate goal: a cure for scleroderma.
|
