A Mom on a Mission
The Guthy-Jackson Charitable Foundation was established in 2008 when her beautiful teenage daughter was first diagnosed with Neuromyelitis Optica (NMO), a life-threatening autoimmune disease. At a time when so little was known about this rare “orphan” disorder, and when there were no existing foundations focused on solving NMO, Victoria Jackson dedicated herself to funding basic and clinical research desperately needed to better understand, treat and ultimately cure this devastating disease.
A Rare Approach to a Rare Disease
Neuromyelitis optica (NMO) is an uncommon disease syndrome of the central nervous system (CNS) that affects the optic nerves and spinal cord. Individuals with NMO develop optic neuritis, which causes pain in the eye and vision loss, and transverse myelitis, which causes weakness, numbness, and sometimes paralysis of the arms and legs
Strategic Partnerships
From the start, we saw the need to venture beyond traditional science models: by connecting experts from around the world and across multiple disciplines; by incentivizing the sharing of research vital for life-saving discoveries in the laboratory; and by creating a global community of patients, caregivers, and physicians.
