Social Fundraising

Million Dollar Bike Ride - Congenital Muscular Dystrophy

Team Cure CMD

Team Cure CMD/Collagen VI (Ullrich/Bethlem)

Information on CMD's

Congenital Muscular Dystrophies are a rare group of diseases causing muscle weakness at birth. Several defined genetic mutations cause muscles to break down faster than they can repair or grow. Some children never gain the ability to walk, while others lose the ability as they grow older. Affected individuals also may suffer from respiratory insufficiency, failure to thrive, contractures, and scoliosis. There is currently no treatment or cure. We are focusing our fundraising on the subtype Collagen VI CMD.

How important is the Million Dollar Bike Ride to a rare disease like CMD?

Each team who raises the minimum of $20,000 will be matched dollar-for-dollar up to $30,000 for research Penn's Center for Orphan Disease Research and Therapy!!!

With your help, in 2018 Cure CMD raised over $50,000 which was matched by Penn ODC! We funded 2 separate Collagen VI research grants!!

In 2017, Team Cure CMD raised $23,000 which was fully matched by Penn and funded the below research grant: Dr. Alessandra Recchia's project titled, "CRISPR/Cas9 nuclease design to target allele-specific Collagen VI mutations in patients' fibroblasts. We are excited for her research!

Please consider making a donation (by clicking on the "Donate Now!" button), checking if your employer will match your donation (http://www.matchinggifts.com/uofpa/), sharing this donation page with others, or even joining us on the ride!

The MDBR is Saturday, June 8th!

We can't wait to see you there!

* Event starts 7:30am
* 3 Cycling Routes (12, 33 &73 miles)
* T-shirt for each registered cyclist
* Event cycling jersey to each rider who commits to fundraising
* 100% of your donation is tax-deductible