Keeping the Vision Alive

Keeping the Vision Alive

Losing your two founders within 2 years of each other (Chris passed away October 10, 2004, and Dana died in March of 2006) is devastating on organization. Yet, over the last three years the Foundation has not taken its eyes off the ball that Chris and Dana got rolling.
Here's just a small sample of some of our accomplishments just since Chris' death in spinal cord research and improving the quality of life for people living with paralysis:

  • Launched the North American Clinical Trials Network (NACTN) to move promising therapies out of the laboratory and into clinical trials in a manner that will provide clear evidence of effectiveness and insure maximum safety to patients undergoing treatment
  • Received a $2.5M Department of Defense award to expand NACTN into military, and eventually VA, hospitals
  • Launched the NeuroRecovery Network (NRN), an expanding network of rehabilitation centers designed to deliver activity-based therapies to people with spinal cord injury.  The seven member centers have now deployed Locomotor Training to more than 100 people and CDRF shortly will launch two community-based NRN sites within existing local wellness facilities/programs
  • Hosted an international stem cell workshop in preparation for launch of a targeted research program aimed at the use of stem cells in spinal cord injury and repair.
  • Awarded over $23 million new research grants to an international cadre of approximately 50 neuroscientists who are focused on developing therapies for spinal cord repair. The awards were made through the Foundation's Individual Grants Program, its International Consortium on Spinal Cord Injury, and its Translational Research Fund
  • Funded almost $3.5 million in Quality of Life grants to hundreds of nonprofit organizations worldwide
  • Held the 2nd Reeve Foundation Spinal Cord Symposium in promoting dialogue between scientists and members of the spinal cord injury community (the 3rd symposium took place in Atlanta in 2008)
  • Helped secure passage of the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act in the House of Representatives and the introduction of the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Act in the Senate and the House of Representatives.
  • Created and grew Team Reeve – our grassroots fund raising program were anyone running, biking, walking, golfing, bowling, you name, can raise money and awareness for spinal cord injury research and Quality of Life programs – from $20,000 in 2005 to over $210,00 so far this year.