MRF
Morgellons Research Foundation
PO Box 10353
Pittsburgh, PA 15234-9998

www.Morgellons.org


September 2007 Newsletter 
 
Dear MRF Registrants:

First, we would like to thank each of you for all your efforts on behalf of the disease and also for remaining strong and hopeful.   

Research at Clongen Laboratories

The Morgellons Research Foundation wants to thank Ahmed Kilani, Ph.D., the president of Clongen Laboratories.  Dr. Kilani is a microbiologist who learned about Morgellons from someone suffering from the disease and decided to help.  He has been volunteering his spare time and his lab to perform this research because he truly cares.  We want to thank Dr. Kilani for all of his efforts.  You can find information about Dr. Kilani's Morgellons research at his website www.clongen.com. 

 
Research Samples
 
We periodically need samples collected by physicians for our ongoing research.  If you are a physician and would like to participate by providing samples from your Morgellons patients, please write doctors@morgellons.org for more information.  If you are a patient and would like to participate in research, please ask your physician to write us at this address.  Samples must be collected by a physician to be part of the study.  We cannot accept samples from individuals at this time.
 
 
Other News
 
Thanks to the continued efforts of David Baca and the caring drivers of the NHRA (National Hot Rod Association) a brand new NHRA game for Sony Playstation 2 and Sony Portable will feature David Baca's car with the Morgellons.org logo on the front.
 
New Scientist Magazine will feature an article on Morgellons disease which will appear in the September 15th edition.  This will be in newstands in the UK on Thursday 13th September, and online at http://www.newscientist.com
 
The MRF registration page is currently being updated, so our link is temporarily down.  We will have this up and running again shortly.  
 
 
Message from the Advocacy Coordinator
 
I want to thank everyone who has helped in our advocacy efforts.  I know that so many of you have written to Congress or written or phoned the CDC.  It is due to all your efforts that the CDC put information about the disease on their website and announced that their investigation will begin.  For updated information about the investigation, please see http://www.cdc.gov/unexplaineddermopathy/investigation.html

These are important first steps, but our work is not done.  According to the CDC website, the goals of the CDC investigation are to (1) describe the features of the disease and to (2) generate hypotheses about possible risk factors.  This type of epidemiological study is often the initial approach taken when studying a newly emerging disease, and we are hopeful that this will bring us closer to our goal of having Morgellons disease formally recognized by the medical community.  However, we need additional rapid-paced research aimed at learning the cause of the disease and uncovering the possible infectious agent so that we can find a cure as quickly as possible.  We have several qualified scientists who are interested in doing this important work, but we need to fund their research.  Over the past year, the MRF has reached out to dozens of private foundations seeking donations and so far none have been willing to give to a disease that is not yet recognized, that seemingly affects only a small group of people. We believe at some point the public will get involved, but for now we must rely on ourselves to get the research funding that we need.
 
Please help us in the quest to conquer this illness.  We know that many people with this illness are unable to donate to this research.  Please ask your friends and family to donate to our cause and give the best gift they could ever give: the gift of  research to find a cure.  Since July, we have raised $5,945, and we need to raise at least $250,000 to make some progress on the five research grant applications the MRF has received from interested scientists this year.  Please see our research page at www.morgellons.org for more information about the proposed research. 

If you read about the history of almost every newly emerging disease, sufferers had to struggle for too many years until the infectious agent was finally identified.  Let's learn from their struggles.  Let's unite and work together to find the cause of this disease soon.  This would finally get the medical community to take the disease seriously and give it the attention it deserves.  Each of us needs to get involved to accomplish this.  We have to save ourselves and our children.  Please go to our contributions page at www.morgellons.org to make a donation. 

We have developed a brochure that you can distribute which describes the disease and the research opportunities.  Please respond to this email to request a brochure and be sure to give us your mailing address.  We can mail you two copies for free.  We encourage you to make additional copies and give them to your friends and family and distribute them throughout your neighborhood, in stores, doctors' offices, and on bulletin boards.  This is an easy way to help us spread awareness of the disease.
 
If you have any questions or suggestions, please email me at advocacy@morgellons.org
 
 
 
We regret the passing of a former board member, Charles E. Holman.  Our thoughts and prayers are with his family at this time.

William T. Harvey, M.D., M.P.H., M.S., Chairman
Mary M. Leitao, Executive Director
Douglas Buckner, Ph.D., Associate Director
Janelle Fossen, Secretary
Dale Cowher, CPA, Treasurer
Roy Houchins
Board of Directors
Ken Cowles, Director Media and PR
Morgellons Research Foundation