SRS is the only disease known to be caused by an imbalance of polyamines - small molecules that are present in every living organism. They're necessary for normal development of brain, bone, and other cells- yet little is known about how they function. So the study of SRS presents a unique opportunity to understand polyamines and the role they might play in many common diseases like epilepsy, osteoporosis, Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases.

This is our third year riding in the Million Dollar Bike Ride. Your donations have made research grants available to Dr. Fernando Fierro at the University of California at Davis, where he's studying how SRS causes osteoporosis and how it may be treated; to Dr. Schwartz at the Greenwood Genetic Center, who's studying many different aspects of SRS using cells from a number of actual SRS patients; to Dr. Bob Casero at Johns Hopkins, who's trying to normalize polyamine ratios in SRS cells using nanoparticles; and to Dr. Grace Zhai at the University of Miami, who's studying potential SRS treatments in fruit fly models - and who, with her doctoral candidate and colleague Chong Li, recently published a breakthrough article describing how anti-oxidants may be used to treat SRS.

With all this momentum, Dr. Cat Lutz and Dr. Aamir Zuberi at Jackson Labs are now creating SRS mouse models that we may use to test the safety and efficacy of potential treatments - and a brilliant multi-disciplinary group of Polyamigo super-researchers are collaborating on our most promising paths forward. And with RURO's generous provision of software and support, our SRS Patient Registry & Natural History Study is well underway! Our progress over the past three years has been amazing thanks to your donations and all the help we've received with our research program!

We're very grateful to the Penn Medicine Orphan Disease Center for this unique and wonderful opportunity to further our SRS research - and to Dr. Neal Boerkoel, who made this all possible!