UMDF Connect

Meet Andy

Andy Marks is a skier, a boxer and a bowler. He also enjoys movies, plays backgammon and is a stand-up comedian. His activities don’t seem too far out of the norm for a 31 year old. The difference is that Andy is blind. Andy is living with Leber’s hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON).

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Meet Ryan

UMDF’s 2020 Energy Award winner is Ryan Eberly from Gordonville, PA. Ryan first learned about UMDF shortly after he was diagnosed eight years ago with CPEO Plus with mitochondrial myopathy which was caused by a POLG mutation.

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50 Ways to Fundraise

No event is too big or too small and every contribution powers the Roadmap to a Cure. Start a fundraising page online on our “Fundraise Your Way” DIY fundraising site or contact the UMDF Special Events Department to start your own fundraiser today!

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Meet Gavin

“I can’t even tell you how often we were in the hospital in those early years,” said Nikki about her son Gavin, who was diagnosed with mitochondrial disease as a toddler. The disease rapidly progressed, causing chaos in Gavin’s small body. At age five, he received a...

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Meet Jeremiah

Like many parents, Aneesa’s introduction to mitochondrial disease was jarring. After months of jumping from specialist to specialist who ran test after test searching for answers around the weakness in her then seven-month-old son, Jeremiah, she got a dreaded answer....

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