The Johnnie Walkers

The Last Dance on Sunday May 18, 2025

2025-03-08T13:34:00.000-08:00

We, The Johnnie Walkers, are about to achieve one of our goals: taking decades of research on repairing MS damage, out of the laboratory and transitioning into the clinic.

Dr. Stephen Miller at Northwestern School of Medicine and his collaborators are tying up loose ends this coming year. This is a very big deal! We need to raise $50,000 to complete this transition.

As a result of your unwavering support and generous donations, we have raised over $1 million. So, after 30 years, this Walk will be the last one for fundraising.

What happens next? All this research needs to be distilled into a pill. Two biopharmaceutical giants, Takeda & Genentech, have contracted to take this technology and invest resources to do the human clinical trials to get FDA approved therapeutic on the market. Then we will accomplish our bigger goal of getting me and millions of others out of our crowded scooter and back on our feet. WOW!

Northwestern University's Philanthropist Magazine wrote an article about the Johnnie Walkers and the work that we funded with Dr. Miller's research:HERE

Join us and be part of our team; walk and donate on Sunday, May 19th in Lincolnshire. At 10:30 am, we will start a 4 mile neighborhood walk, followed by an afternoon of camaraderie and a backyard picnic (sunny and warm this year, please!).

There are three options to donate:

Donate online: Miller Multiple Sclerosis Auto-immune Disease Research HERE

Send me a check made out to Northwestern University and mail to:
Bob Gregory
10 Londonderry Ln.
Lincolnshire, IL 60069

If you use your brokerage firm or a donor advised fund , please note that your gift is for the Bob Gregory MS Walk and should be mailed directly to:
MaryPat Mauro
Director, Major Gifts
Northwestern University
Development & Alumni Relations
420 East Superior Street
Rubloff 9th Fl.
Chicago, IL 60611

: (For questions, contact MaryPat at 312-503-1090 or

marypat.northwestern@northwestern.edu)

The Johnnie Walkers Are Rallying On Sunday, May 19th 2024

2024-04-04T07:56:00.000-07:00

I am still reveling in the accolades we are receiving for surpassing the $1 million fundraising threshold in the last couple years. I’m also very excited to see the beneficiary of our donations, Dr. Stephen Miller, and his infrastructure at Northwestern University accelerating the process of going from academic research to mainstream pharmaceutical therapies. Steve has cofounded Cour Pharmaceuticals which will act as the conduit of theoretical to practical and do all the tedious, repetitive grunt work to generate data that will excite large pharmaceutical companies to turn all of this into a pill that will get my rear end out of this scooter.

.
We are making a difference!

Join us and be part of our team; walk and donate on Sunday, May 19th in Lincolnshire. At 10:30 am, we will start a 4 mile neighborhood walk, followed by an afternoon of camaraderie and a backyard picnic (sunny and warm this year, please!).

There are three options to donate:

Donate online: Miller Multiple Sclerosis Auto-immune Disease Research HERE

Send me a check made out to Northwestern University and mail to:
Bob Gregory
10 Londonderry Ln.
Lincolnshire, IL 60069

The Johnnie Walkers Are Rolling on Sunday, May 21, 2023.

2023-04-12T07:09:00.003-07:00

Due to your boundless generosity, The Johnnie Walkers are $1 million team. We have cumulatively raised over $1 million to fund cutting edge MS research at Northwestern. Dr. Steve Miller's lab is using nanotechnology to stop the progression of MS in its tracks and to repair the damage that has already been done.
This will get a million people with MS in the US back on their feet.
We are making a difference!

Join us and be part of our team; walk and donate on Sunday, May 21st in Lincolnshire. At 10:30 am, we will start a 4 mile neighborhood walk, followed by an afternoon of camaraderie and a backyard picnic (sunny and warm this year, please!).

There are three options to donate:

Donate online: Miller Multiple Sclerosis Auto-immune Disease Research HERE

Send me a check made out to Northwestern University and mail to:

Bob Gregory

10 Londonderry Ln.

Lincolnshire, IL 60069

If you use your brokerage firm or a donor advised fund , please note that your gift is for the Bob Gregory MS Walk and should be mailed directly to:

MaryPat Mauro

Director, Major Gifts

Northwestern University

Development & Alumni Relations

420 East Superior Street

Rubloff 9th Fl.

Chicago, IL 60611

The Johnnie Walkers Are Rolling on Sunday, May 22, 2022

2021-04-29T10:41:00.004-07:00

Join us and be part of our team; walk and donate on Sunday, May 22nd in Lincolnshire. At 10:30 am, we will start a 4 mile neighborhood walk, followed by an afternoon of camaraderie and a backyard picnic (sunny and warm this year, please!).

There are three options to donate:

Donate online: Miller Multiple Sclerosis Auto-immune Disease Research HERE

Send me a check made out to Northwestern University and mail to:
Bob Gregory
10 Londonderry Ln.
Lincolnshire, IL 60069

or

If you use your brokerage firm or a donor advised fund , please note that your gift is for the Bob Gregory MS Walk and should be mailed directly to:

MaryPat Mauro
Director, Major Gifts
Northwestern University

Development & Alumni Relations
420 East Superior Street
Rubloff 9th Fl.
Chicago, IL 60611

The Johnnie Walkers Are Unstoppable

2020-05-21T11:30:00.001-07:00

Sunday, the 17th, was our annual MS Walk raising funds for cutting-edge research on MS damage repair at Northwestern University.

While I missed the camaraderie of walking together, I was heartened by the social distancing walks the Johnnie Walkers did across the country, including Adele, Duncan & Pat Gregory in Chicago, Ed Stern & Teri Nimmons in Maryland, Camille & her grandkids in PA, Janet & Fred Kunz in Chicago, Doug deMarrias in NJ, Cathy & Tim Kendrick in NC, Fred Canavan (he rowed) in NY, Dave Herman in NC, John Guidone in NC, Gloria Lewis in NJ, Al Rausa (twice) in Emerson, Bob Bazarian in PA Karin Novotny swam 4 miles in FL, Mindy & Wayne’s dogs took them for walk in NY, Gail & Yale Kaplan power walked Maryland and Kay Hoogland crossed the finish line despite the fact that The Ogden Marathon was canceled
.

It’s not too late to donate online HERE

I am very grateful to all of you… And this is one step closer to getting out of this wheelchair.

Adele, Pat and Duncan

Cathy and Tim

Fred

Doug

Kay

Doug's Route

Camille

Dave

Terri and Ed

Janet and Fred

John

Mindy and Wayne

Bob

The Johnnie Walkers Are Rallying for the Virtual MS Walk on May 17th

2020-03-29T11:26:00.000-07:00

I’m guessing it’s no surprise to any of you that I have to cancel the walk part of this year’s MS Walk scheduled for May 17^TH. It’s my favorite weekend of the year but we’re living through some social distancing unprecedented times.

However, our dedication to discovering the cause and cure for MS is not on hold and we continue to help fuel the momentum of the collaborative work of Northwestern’s Drs. Steve Miller & Brian Popko.

So, please donate to this year’s “Walk”. Your support means just as much as it always has. There are three options to donate:

· Contribute online HERE. We are funding The Miller Multiple Sclerosis Auto-Immune Disease Research Protocol.
· You can send a check to me at the address listed to the right. Please make the check out to The Northwestern Feinberg School Of Medicine.
· If you use your brokerage firm or a donor advised fund, please note that your gift is for the Bob Gregory MS Walk and should be mailed directly to:
MaryPat Mauro, Director, Major Gifts, Northwestern University
Development & Alumni Relations, 420 East Superior Street, Rubloff 9th Fl.,
Chicago, IL 60611

Are our donations making a difference? In the past year:

Dr. Popko relocated from University of Chicago to Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University which will make their collaboration much easier now that both are at the same institution.

· Cour Pharmaceuticals used Drs. Miller & Popko’s approach to complete a highly effective phase 2 clinical trial in Celiac Disease (another autoimmune disease) and are currently planning clinical trials in MS patients using the same.
· Thanks to the data derived by research made possible through our fundraising, they also received two NIH grants examining therapies using tolerance in combination with myelin repair agents.
· They co-authored a paper on an offshoot of a specific drug, guanabenz, that was identified by The Myelin Repair Foundation that we funded in years past.
· Dr. Miller published a paper in collaboration with Clene Pharmaceuticals describing the use of gold nanocrystals to induce remyelination
· Dr. Miller and Popko are currently preparing a manuscript describing the myelin repair inducing properties of digoxin, a repurposed drug which already has FDA approval for use in heart patients

We are making a difference!

The 2019 Johnnie Walkers Are Rolling Again on Sunday, May 19th

2019-03-16T12:38:00.000-07:00

Every year a group of family and friends gather to walk 4 miles, enjoy each others company and a backyard barbecue and raise a little money. A big part of our team who can't make the actual physical walk, donate generously by mailing a check or contributing online through the links on this page. Every year we have been able to send a check of greater than $30,000 to our beneficiaries. We are once again funding the work of Dr. Steve Miller at Northwestern and Dr. Brian Popko at the University of Chicago in their quest to use nanotechnology in pursuit of immunological tolerance, coupled with myelin repair agents. This is the cutting-edge of MS Research. The science is fascinating. Please see below and link to Dr. Miller's WGN interview HERE.

What else is fascinating is the wonderful people who make up the Johnnie Walkers. From unconditionally supporting family, great neighbors, bonded college friends, various loyal work-related friends, dedicated church friends, Chicago friends where we went from Friday night cocktails to weddings to newborns to teenagers to designated drivers in the suburbs Then there are characters like Mike Lazarus who comes in every year for less than 24 hours, with a fistful of checks from the Stamford, CT medical community, whose connection with me is a as a friend of a friend who spent a weekend in the early 80’s in Chicago and tried to see how much Mexican food we could eat and how many Cub’s games we could go to with the least amount of sleep. There are renewed Emerson, NJ high school friends. There is a little history there where I knew their grandparents, their parents, brothers and sisters and now meeting their adult kids.. They now come in a couple days early to explore Chicago. And every year there are cherished new friends making new memories and rapidly becoming old friends. Here are some pictures from last year.

The Johnnie Walkers have come a long way since we first started participating all those years ago with Ron & Judy Anderson, Darby Anderson, Dee Schorr, Pat & I in the freezing rain and raised a few hundred dollars.

I have a few more battle scars since however I’m still as optimistic as ever that me and a million others in the US will get back on our feet.

It’s my favorite weekend of the year!

If you can’t make the trip, join our team by donating online through Northwestern Univ.

Or by writing a check:

Northwestern University

c/o Bob Gregory

10 Londonderry Lane

Lincolnshire, IL 60069

It was cold. It was raining. We had a blast!

2018-06-22T10:46:00.000-07:00

As soon as we took this picture, the skies opened up and sheets of rain came down.
All 45 walkers ran into the house along with 5 Golden Retrievers & a Beagle.
Next thing we knew the food came out, bottles of libations were uncorked and the noise level of laughter climbed.
First time in the history of doing The Walk that we had no walk.
Didn't faze many as the celebration lasted well into the late afternoon and we raised more money than last year.
So grateful to the people that were here and for all whom generously donated to exceed our goal.
Save the date for next year: Sunday, May 19th, 2019.

It’s time to rally The Johnnie Walkers for our annual Walk on Sunday, May 20th to raise funds and awareness for multiple sclerosis research.

2018-04-10T07:26:00.000-07:00

Our team is working on the next breakthrough as we are continuing to raise funds for The NU/UC Tolerance Initiative. Drs. Steve Miller of Northwestern Medical School and Brian Popko of The University of Chicago are collaborating on a very promising line of research to induce tolerance of the immune system using nanotechnology to prevent “friendly fire” on healthy cells. They attach myelin proteins to biodegradable nanoparticles (myelin is the coating on nerves that is destroyed by a confused immune system in MS).

Once this nanomedicine is injected into the blood and goes through the spleen and liver, the immune system is re-taught that healthy myelin is not an invading outside threat and should be left alone and the autoimmune cells becomes “tolerized”. Drs. Miller and Popko are also combining the tolerance protocol with co-administration of drugs that stimulate myelin repair and have found that combined treatment with both strategies leads to a remarkable ability to reverse symptoms of MS in a mouse model of the disease. Promising agents which are being tested for their ability to promote myelin repair include the FDA approved drugs digoxin (used in heart therapy ) and miconazole (an anti-fungal drug) as well as a new approach being tested in collaboration with Clene Nanomedicine which uses the administration of gold nanocrystals. The money we raised last year allowed our researchers to complete crucial work so they could be compete for more grant money from The National Institutes of Health – a new NIH grant was awarded jointly to them in July 2017.

This research has the potential to revolutionize autoimmune and allergic disease treatment since you can substitute the myelin proteins for other proteins depending on the disease being targeted. Therefore you can tolerize the immune system in response to all autoimmune diseases including type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, Celiac disease and lupus. Additionally, you can control severe allergies, including to peanut and cat dander and even eliminate organ transplant rejections. So, our great philanthropic endeavors will benefit many people we know and love that fit into these expanded categories. Dr. Miller’s company, Cour Pharmaceutical Development Company in collaboration with Takeda Pharmaceuticals began an FDA-approved phase 1 clinical trial in celiac patients who are being treated with nanoparticles containing gliadin (the major protein component of gluten) to re-establish tolerance and hopefully stop this widespread disease.

Join us and be part of our team; walk and donate

If you can’t make the trip join our group by donating online through Northwestern Univ..

Or by writing a check:

Northwestern University

Memo: CATalyzer project

c/o Bob Gregory

10 Londonderry Lane

Lincolnshire, IL 60069

The Sunday Walk has morphed into a fun weekend. Our out of town team members come in early. These include our perennial All-Star, Mike Lazarus, from Connecticut, a number of my classmates from the class of 1974 Emerson NJ high school, my sister Cathy and brother-in-law Tim from Charlotte and my daughter, Christine, parachuting in from Bogotá.

Success!!

2017-06-03T15:05:00.000-07:00

Every year the dynamic cast of characters that makes up the Johnnie Walker Team come through.
The walk on Sunday, May 21st was the culmination of a fun 5 day weekend. And this was all supported by team members you don't see in the picture that generously donated to get to our goal, wrote notes of support and called, texted, and Facebooked to add to the camaraderie.
I am so very grateful. And so very much empowered to support cutting research to get me, 400,000 with MS and millions with autoimmune diseases back on our feet. Scientists like Drs. Steve Miller and Brian Popko are dedicated to ensuring their research translates into practical physical change in real people.

Save the date: Sunday, May 20, 2018

Join us on Sunday, May 21st for Our Annual Walk

2017-02-20T13:54:00.001-08:00

We are continuing to raise funds for The NU/UC Tolerance Initiative. Drs. Steve Miller of Northwestern Medical School and Brian Popko of The University of Chicago are collaborating on a very promising line of research to induce tolerance of the immune system using nanotechnology to prevent “friendly fire” on healthy cells. They attach myelin proteins to biodegradable nanoparticles (myelin is the coating on nerves that is destroyed by a confused immune system in MS). Once this nano-cluster is injected into the body and goes through the spleen and liver, the immune system is re-taught that healthy myelin is not an invading outside threat and should be left alone and becomes “tolerized”.

Drs. Miller and Popko are also combining the tolerance protocol with drugs that stimulate myelin repair and have found that combined treatment with both strategies leads to a remarkable ability to reverse symptoms of MS. The money we raised last year allowed them to finish up some needed work so they could be awarded more grant money from The National Institutes of Health.

This tolerance initiative will enhance the environment allowing for re-myelination naturally or with the intervention of the many myelin repair agents that are entering into human clinical trials. When people describe this research they use words like game changer, the Holy Grail and accelerating towards a cure. This research has the potential to revolutionize disease management since you can substitute the myelin proteins for other proteins. Therefore you can tolerize the immune system in response to all autoimmune diseases including type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, Celiac’s disease and lupus. Additionally, you can control severe allergies, including to peanut and cat dander and even eliminate organ transplant rejections. So, our great philanthropic endeavors will benefit many people we know and love that fit into these expanded categories. As an offshoot to their research, human clinical trials on Celiac’s disease start in a couple months.

To learn more about the Tolerance Initiative, click here to watch a video produced by WGN News featuring Dr. Stephen Miller.

Join us and be part of our team; walk and donate on Sunday, May 21^nd, 2017 in Lincolnshire. At 10:30 am we will start a 4 mile neighborhood walk, starting and finishing at our house. Then spend the afternoon of camaraderie and a backyard picnic with us. Bring your friends.

If you can’t make the trip join our group by donating online through Northwestern University

or by writing a check:

Northwestern Univ.

Memo: CATalyzer project, GAKG2

c/o Bob Gregory

10 Londonderry Lane

Lincolnshire, IL 60069

It's Tax Deductible!

Another Great Event!

2016-05-27T10:52:00.002-07:00

Last Sunday’s Walk was the culmination of a great weekend of friendship, overwhelming support, talking a little science and raising a lot of cash (with more coming in daily) to benefit collaborative MS research and specifically The NU/UC Tolerance Initiative.

We are so appreciative of the Walkers, who came out to put in some sweat equity as well as bringing monetary contributions. And thanks to those of you who joined our team with financial donations.

It’s not too late to contribute. We will keep the online link for donations open until at least July 4th.

Save the date for next year’s Walk: the weekend of May 21, 2017.

We are rolling again on Sunday, May 22nd to support The NU/UC Tolerance Initiative

2016-04-08T08:33:00.000-07:00

Dr. Stephen D. Miller from Northwestern and Dr. Brian Popko from the University of Chicago are using nanotechnology to induce immune system tolerance, thereby preventing “friendly fire” on healthy cells in the body of a patient with MS.

In this work, biodegradable nanoparticles—composed of the same biopolymer used to make resorbable sutures—are coated with myelin proteins. Once these clusters are infused into the body, the immune system is re-taught that healthy myelin is not an invading outside threat and should be left alone. The Miller and Popko laboratories are combining this tolerance protocol with drugs that stimulate myelin repair and have found that combined treatment with both strategies leads to a remarkable ability to reverse paralytic symptoms in animal models of MS.

Through the Tolerance Initiative, the immune system environment is effectively enhanced, allowing for re-myelination to occur naturally or with the intervention of myelin repair agents, many of which are currently entering into human clinical trials.

To learn more about the Tolerance Initiative, click here to watch a video produced by WGN News featuring Dr. Stephen Miller.

This research is a game changer. Not only does it have the potential to revolutionize the management of MS, but also myriad other diseases. Since the myelin proteins used in the Tolerance Initiative can be exchanged with other proteins, scientists could potentially “tolerize” in response to many types of autoimmune diseases, including type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, and lupus. It could also lead to breakthroughs in controlling severe allergies like peanut and cat dander, or even eliminating organ transplant rejections.

Join us and be part of our team; walk and donate on Sunday, May 22^nd, 2016 in Lincolnshire. At 10:00 am we will start a 4 mile neighborhood walk, starting and finishing at our house. Then spend the afternoon of camaraderie and a backyard picnic with us. Bring your friends.

If you can’t make the trip join our group by donating online through Northwestern Univ.

or by writing a check:

Northwestern Univ.
Memo: CATalyzer project, FAKGA
c/o Bob Gregory
10 Londonderry Lane
Lincolnshire, IL 60069
It’s tax deductible!

Exceeding High Expections

2015-05-30T15:25:00.000-07:00

Not only did The Johnnie Walkers raised a record shattering $41,000, it was matched dollar for dollar by a MRF anonymous donor. Over the years we have raised over $300,000 to benefit the MRF. To say that I am personally grateful as are the scientists, volunteers (like us) and the staff members at The MRF is an understatement!

All of our donations, including the match, will fund the human clinical trial with the NIH on the repurposed drug, guanabenz and the development of protocols and assays that bridge the gap across “The Valley of Death” (which is the area between breakthroughs in the research laboratory and action by The Pharmaceutical Companies to invest millions in commercializing and FDA approved therapeutic).

Save the date, Sunday, May 22, 2016. The Johnnie Walkers will roll again.

Unbelievable!

2015-05-07T07:51:00.000-07:00

The Johnnie Walkers had quite a day for the Walk on Sunday.
Team Emerson (Emerson, NJ HS mini-Reunion) had quite a weekend.
The MRF is having quite a year of breakthroughs in their quest to have a FDA approved therapeutic for REPAIR by 2019.

Taking full advantage of the typical (not!) Chicago weather of sunny and 78 degrees (that’s above zero) in the 1^st week in May, we had a record crowd of Walkers and raised a record amounts of money on behalf of the MRF. Our goal is to raise $35,000 and have it matched by an anonymous donor for total of $70,000. As of today we are at $66,500 with more arriving daily. We’ve never been this close to our goal this early in the cycle.

A number of high school friends (we graduated 41 years ago) flew out here on Thursday. With the help of some natives, we showed them our beautiful Chicagoland. We went to Wrigley Field on Friday (it was cold). On Saturday we went on the river boat cruise and then visited The Bean (it was hot). On Sunday they merged with the loyal Johnnie Walkers team to walk 4 miles in Lincolnshire (it was great).

The MRF, in conjunction with NIH, is entering in human clinical trials for guanabenz, which has the potential to protect and repair myelin. They also helped fund a study at Case Western Reserve that showed the potential restoration of myelin after application of the active ingredient of athlete foot cream. (Scientific breakthroughs can come from the strangest places). They are leading the way for other companies that are making great progress in repair.

We’re keeping the books open for another couple months so please continue to donate generously.

Update: We Are Walking on Sunday, May 3rd

2015-04-03T13:46:00.001-07:00

After a particularly cruel winter, we have emerged from our lairs to see The Sun and start thinking about Walking again.

Some new details:

The good news on MRF general fundraising this past year is that The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation matched all donations and exceeded their commitment. The very good news for us is we found an anonymous donor to match our fundraising for our May Walk.

The more we stretch our efforts, the more they will stretch their match.

The neuro-protective compound, that had been previously known as MRF-008, is now identified as the FDA approved drug for high blood pressure, guanabenz. The work on this drug, as to its relevancy to MS, was done by the MRF collaborating principal investigators. You and The Johnnie Walkers helped fund this work! The MRF has entered into a cooperative agreement with the National Institutes of Health to get this breakthrough out of the lab and into the pharmacy via MS human clinical studies. Since guanabenz is already FDA-approved for another disease indication, the MRF and the NIH see a tremendous opportunity to investigate the repurposing of this drug with its known safety profile. Repurposing takes years off the clinical trial protocols.

I’m excited about the fast start we’ve had already as depicted by the thermometer to the right.

Join us on Sunday, May 3rd, in Lincolnshire to Walk, Generate Awareness and Raise Monies. The details remain the same as those in the November post below.

Save The Date The Date: Our Next Walk Will Be On Sunday, May 3rd, 2015

2014-11-25T08:44:00.000-08:00

We're getting ready to go into hibernation here in Chicago in anticipation of a particularly cold and snowy winter. However, we always set a beacon for which we focus on knowing spring and summer will return. The MRF Walk in May is that beacon.
Some things to look forward to:

The die hard Johnnie Walker team is ready to roll with the usual suspects
The clinical trial of the promising repair therapeutic candidate,
MRF-008, begins in earnest.
The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation is going to match our donations dollar for dollar. Our new goal: record breaking $70,000
After a great 40th high school reunion in June, my Emerson, NJ buds (The Cavos) are making a mini-reunion weekend out of the Walk.
This will include:

Friday, May 1st - Cub game
Saturday, May 2nd - River Boat Cruise, Millennium Park, Shedd Aquarium, Deep Dish Pizza
Sunday, May 3rd - The Walk
For more details go to Emerson NJ Class of '74
All are welcome!

Join us and be part of our team; walk and donate on Sunday, May 3rd 2015 in Lincolnshire. At 10:00 am we will start a 4 mile neighborhood walk,starting and finishing at our house. Then spend the afternoon of camaraderie and a backyard picnic with us. Bring your friends.

If you can’t make the trip join our group by donating online through Pay It Square

or by writing a check:

The Myelin Repair Foundation

c/o Bob Gregory

10 Londonderry Lane

Lincolnshire, IL 60069

It’s tax deductible!

My Favorite Day of the Year

2014-05-05T15:33:00.000-07:00

Every one of these walks is special. Besides our very much appreciated loyal walkers, we saw the resurgence of our old crew from our single days living downtown. Our adult kids were awestruck by some of the stories challenging their perception that their parents were ever 25 years old.

We raised $24,000 so far with more coming in today.

Keep checking back to see when we hit our goal!

Circle 2 Dates on Your Calendar: May 4, 2014 & May 4, 2019

2014-04-09T09:05:00.001-07:00

It’s time to rally The Johnnie Walkers for our annual Walk on Sunday, May 4^th to raise funds and awareness of the research at The Myelin Repair Foundation.

The MRF has set the goal of having an FDA-approved REPAIR therapeutic on the market by Saturday, May 4^th 2019. That’s in 5 short years! The MRF has met all their milestones on their timeline since its inception in 2004.

You have a front row seat to medical history

“Given the fact that remyelination has quickly become the new vanguard for Multiple Sclerosis treatment”

It’s been quite a year already. In January, a new partnership was created with The National Institutes of Health to develop a clinical trial for a compound called MRF-008. This compound is a generic drug that the MRF academic research consortium identified as a potential candidate to protect and repair myelin in MS patients. Since MRF-008 is already FDA-approved for another disease indication, the MRF and the NIH see a tremendous opportunity to investigate the repurposing of this drug with its known safety profile. Repurposing takes years off the clinical trial protocol.

Join us and be part of our team; walk and donate on Sunday, May 4th in Lincolnshire. At 10:30 am we will start a 4 mile neighborhood walk,starting and finishing at our house. Then spend the afternoon of camaraderie and a backyard picnic with us. Bring your friends.

If you can’t make the trip join our group by donating online through Pay It Square or by writing a check:
The Myelin Repair Foundation
c/o Bob Gregory

10 Londonderry Lane

Lincolnshire, IL 60069

It’s tax deductible!

Here's MRF's latest video:

Over the Top

2013-06-17T14:29:00.001-07:00

Just opened up an envelope from Mike Lazarus and there 5 checks that put us over the top of our impossible fundraising goal of $30,000 for this year’s MRF Walk…and more is coming in. So if you were this year’s first $1 contributor (Donna Umin), the $30,000^th (Paul Levis) or one of the 200 generous people in between, you have my gratitude.

And while it’s something to reach this monetary goal, what it’s being used for is what’s really impressive. Advances are accelerating.

New pharmaceuticals have recently been approved by the FDA that are in pill form (no more needles!), are better at slowing the deterioration down and with fewer side effects.

Dr. Steve Miller at Northwestern just published the results of a human clinical trial where by modifying a patient’s own cells, they got the body to stop attacking the myelin without compromising the rest of the immune system. With tolerance there is no auto-immune disease.

In my conversation last week with MRF Founder and President, Scott Johnson, he re-confirmed that his milestone of having an FDA approved myelin REPAIR therapeutic on the market in 6 years is the focus and it’s achievable.

My naïve optimism about getting my butt out of this wheelchair becomes a little less naïve every day.

What a Day!

2013-05-20T06:33:00.001-07:00

It couldn't have been any better.

A very big gathering of friends.

Raised a lot of money for the MRF and more coming in.
Perfect weather.

Thank you all for walking, donating and supporting.

It's Spring!.. Time to rally The Johnnie Walkers for our annual walk on Sunday, May 19th

2013-04-28T18:03:00.000-07:00

This was quite a year as the pace of MS breakthroughs accelerated toward our goal of getting me and the other 2.3 million people with MS out of my crowded wheelchair.

And while the science and fundraising are very impressive, it’s all the members of The Johnnie Walkers that makes our quest such a great story: from our first walk with Ron, Judy and Darby Anderson and Dee Downing 15 years ago, to 8^th grader Ben Brandt organizing his own MRF event in junior high last fall. Along the way we’ve picked up hundreds more like Mike Lazarus who hasn’t missed a walk in decades and brings donations from the Stamford, CT healthcare community and Barb Siegel and Connie Ogorzaly leading The Lincolnshire Village Club in numerous fundraising events. Most recently, through the power of Facebook, Al Rausa has pulled together our high school friends from Emerson, NJ circa early 1970’ s, and now my daughter Christine has pulled together her high school friends from Lincolnshire, IL circa early 2010’s to get involved.

If you can’t make the trip join our group by donating online through Pay It Square or by writing a check:
The Myelin Repair Foundation
c/o Bob Gregory

10 Londonderry Lane

Lincolnshire, IL 60069

It’s tax deductible!

A Wild and Successful Day!

2012-05-07T13:26:00.000-07:00

The Johnnie Walkers rallied in Lincolnshire yesterday for another successful day of fundraising, raising awareness and just having a good time. We kicked off our 4 mile walk at 10:30am and at Noon as the last of us were completing the route and turning in to the drive way the thunder clapped and the skies opened up.

We hustled the tables and chairs, food and drink, kids and dogs into the garage, under the breezeway and onto the porch and picknicked while the deluge raged around us.

We've raised just shy of $27,000 so far with more pledged to come in.

Keep checking back here and watch us hit our goal in the next weeks.

Emerson Cavos Expand The Johnnie Walkers

2012-03-29T17:47:00.007-07:00

Through the magic of Facebook, I have reconnected with a lot of long lost friends from Emerson NJ High School, circa 1974 (you do the math!) We were the Emerson Cavaliers or The Cavos.

Al Rausa has been particularly active in re-connecting us all and specifically interested in our cause. He's now taking it to a new level by organizing Team Johnnie Walker East:

I would also like to support one of our classmates who is battling MS. Bob Gregory graduated with the Class of 74 and was diagnosed with MS in 1990. Due to an unusually fast disease progression he was in a wheelchair by 1995. I have stayed in touch via email and Facebook, he has never lost his sense of humor and courage. So, at the party on Saturday,May 18th, I will have a raffle of Louisiana food and Artwork that I am bringing back in order to raise funds for Bob’s cause (http://msjohnniewalkers.blogspot.com/). Please take a moment to checkout his website, watch the video, send him an email and help me support a fellow Cavo.

So we have quite a team; The Cavos, our loyal local walkers, our swat team who flys in, The Village Club, The MRF members and the vast countrywide network.
Makes you believe anything is possible.

Join Us on Sunday, May 6th 2012

2012-03-19T07:59:00.014-07:00

“The Myelin Repair Foundation’s unique research approach, which facilitates collaboration among leading neurologists, has sped up the discovery process to where we are today; moving an MS therapeutic closer to the patient…” Dr. Stephen Miller, Northwestern University.

You have a front row seat to the accelerating shift in how multiple sclerosis is understood: from a chronic debilitating disease with vague hopes for future breakthroughs (my experience at diagnosis in 1990) to a manageable condition where therapeutics stop the downward spiral of deterioration and actually repair the damage.

What makes the MRF unique?

Join us and be part of our team to keep the ball rolling; walk and donate on Sunday, May 6th in Lincolnshire. At 10:30 am we will start a 4 mile neighborhood walk, followed by an afternoon of camaraderie and a backyard picnic. Ask your friends to donate.

If you can’t make the trip join our group by donating online through ChipIn or by writing a check:
The Myelin Repair Foundation
c/o Bob Gregory

10 Londonderry Lane

Lincolnshire, IL 60069

It’s tax deductible!