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 with the largest gift ever made to the Scleroderma Foundation—a $5 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 Federation, 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 2002, the Estate of Marta Marx added to the Marta Marx Fund for the Eradication of Scleroderma with an additional gift of $5 million thus making the total gift for scleroderma research $10 million.

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.