The Scleroderma Research Foundation ("SRF") is a non-profit organization based in San Francisco that funds research into scleroderma. The SRF also funds and supports Scleroderma Centers of Excellence, including the Johns Hopkins Scleroderma Center.
Over 30 years, the SRF has raised millions of dollars for scleroderma research. The organization funds research based on review and recommendations by its Scientific Advisory Board.
The SRF website provides information on treatments, research and their signature fundraising event.
Systemic scleroderma, or systemic sclerosis, is an autoimmune rheumatic disease characterised by excessive production and accumulation of collagen, called fibrosis, in the skin and internal organs and by injuries to small arteries. There are two major subgroups of systemic sclerosis based on the extent of skin involvement: limited and diffuse. The limited form affects areas below, but not above, the elbows and knees with or without involvement of the face. The diffuse form also affects the skin above the elbows and knees and can also spread to the torso. Visceral organs, including the kidneys, heart, lungs, and gastrointestinal tract can also be affected by the fibrotic process. Prognosis is determined by the form of the disease and the extent of visceral involvement. Patients with limited systemic sclerosis have a better prognosis than those with the diffuse form. Death is most often caused by lung, heart, and kidney involvement. There is also a slight increase in the risk of cancer.
The Johns Hopkins University is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, the university was named for its first benefactor, the American entrepreneur and philanthropist Johns Hopkins. His $7 million bequest —of which half financed the establishment of the Johns Hopkins Hospital—was the largest philanthropic gift in the history of the United States up to that time. Daniel Coit Gilman, who was inaugurated as the institution's first president on February 22, 1876, led the university to revolutionize higher education in the U.S. by integrating teaching and research. Adopting the concept of a graduate school from Germany's historic Heidelberg University, Johns Hopkins University is considered the first research university in the United States. Over the course of several decades, the university has led all U.S. universities in annual research and development expenditures. In fiscal year 2016, Johns Hopkins spent nearly $2.5 billion on research. The university has graduate campuses in Italy, China, and Washington, D.C., in addition to its main campus in Baltimore.
The Johns Hopkins Hospital (JHH) is the teaching hospital and biomedical research facility of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, located in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. It was founded in 1889 using money from a bequest of over $7 million by city merchant, banker/financier, civic leader and philanthropist Johns Hopkins (1795–1873). Johns Hopkins Hospital and its school of medicine are considered to be the founding institutions of modern American medicine and the birthplace of numerous famous medical traditions including rounds, residents and house staff. Many medical specialties were formed at the hospital including neurosurgery, by Dr. Harvey Cushing and Dr. Walter Dandy; cardiac surgery by Dr. Alfred Blalock; and child psychiatry, by Dr. Leo Kanner. Attached to the hospital is the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center which serves infants, children, teens, and young adults aged 0–21.
Robert Lane Saget is an American stand-up comedian, actor, television host and director. His television roles include Danny Tanner on the ABC sitcom Full House (1987–95) and its Netflix sequel Fuller House. He also hosted America's Funniest Home Videos from 1989 to 1997. Saget is also known for his adult-oriented stand-up routine. He also provided the voice of the future Ted Mosby on the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother from 2005 to 2014.
Self-Realization Fellowship (SRF) is a worldwide spiritual organization founded by Paramahansa Yogananda in 1920 and legally incorporated as a non-profit religious organization in 1935, to serve as Yogananda's instrument for the preservation and worldwide dissemination of his writings and teachings, including Kriya Yoga. Yogananda wrote in God Talks With Arjuna: The Bhagavad Gita that the science of Kriya Yoga was given to Manu, the original Adam, and through him to Janaka and other royal sages.
The American Cancer Society (ACS) is a nationwide voluntary health organization dedicated to eliminating cancer. Established in 1913, the society is organized into six geographical regions of both medical and lay volunteers operating in more than 250 Regional offices throughout the United States. Its global headquarters is located in the American Cancer Society Center in Atlanta, Georgia. The ACS publishes the journals Cancer, CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians and Cancer Cytopathology.
The Smith Richardson Foundation is a private foundation based in Westport, Connecticut, that supports policy research in the realms of foreign and domestic public policy.
Kriyananda was a direct disciple of the yogi Paramahansa Yogananda, and the founder of Ananda, a worldwide movement of spiritual intentional communities based on Yogananda's World Brotherhood Colonies ideal. Yogananda made Walters a minister for his organization, Self-Realization Fellowship (SRF). He authorized him to teach Kriya Yoga while with SRF, and appointed him the head monk for the SRF Mount Washington monks only. After Yogananda's death, Walters was given final vows of sannyas in 1955 by then SRF President Daya Mata and given the name Kriyananda. In 1960, upon the passing of M.W. Lewis, the SRF Board of Directors elected Kriyananda to the Board of Directors and to the position of Vice President. In 1962, the SRF Board of Directors voted unanimously to request his resignation.
CREST syndrome, also known as the limited cutaneous form of systemic sclerosis (lcSSc), is a multisystem connective tissue disorder. The acronym "CREST" refers to the five main features: calcinosis, Raynaud's phenomenon, esophageal dysmotility, sclerodactyly, and telangiectasia.
Ludwig Cancer Research is an international community of scientists focused on cancer research, with the goals of preventing and controlling cancer. It encompasses the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, an international non-profit organization founded in 1971 by philanthropist Daniel K. Ludwig. The Institute is headquartered in New York City with a European office located in Zurich. In addition, six Ludwig Centers were established at leading US cancer research institutions. Together, the Institute and Centers are known as Ludwig Cancer Research.
Internews Network, now Internews, is an international non-profit organization.
Sevin Rosen Funds (SRF) is a Texas-based venture capital firm credited with pioneering the personal computing revolution in the 1980s and also venture investing in Dallas. It was established in 1981 by L. J. Sevin, a former Texas Instruments engineer, and Ben Rosen, and was one of the leading investors on the US West Coast. SRF was involved in the financing of Citrix, Cypress Semiconductor, Electronic Arts, Lotus Development Corporation, Silicon Graphics, Ciena Corporation and Vitesse Semiconductor. SRF's first major success was its 1982 investment in Compaq which went public shortly thereafter.
Education Week is an independent news organization that has covered K–12 education since 1981. It is known for providing both news and analysis, along with explanatory and investigative journalism across a range of digital, print, and broadcast platforms as well as through live and virtual events. It is owned by Editorial Projects in Education (EPE), a nonprofit organization, whose mission is to raise awareness and understanding of critical issues facing American schools. It is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland in Greater Washington DC.
Greater Baltimore Medical Center (GBMC) is a hospital located in the Baltimore suburb of Towson, Maryland. GBMC serves more than 20,455 inpatient cases and approximately 52,000 emergency department visits annually. GBMC's main campus also includes three medical office buildings—Physicians Pavilion East, Physicians Pavilion West and Physicians Pavilion North I. In addition to its main campus located in Towson, GBMC's care can be found in several facilities located throughout the community including Hereford, Hunt Manor, Hunt Valley, Owings Mills, Perry Hall, Lutherville, Phoenix and Timonium.
The Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing (JHUSON) is part of the Johns Hopkins University located in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Established in 1889, it is one of the nation's oldest schools for nursing education, ranking 1st in the nation. It is also among the top recipients of nursing research funding from the National Institutes of Health. The school's mission is to provide leadership to improve health care and advance the nursing profession through education, research, practice, and service.
The Johns Hopkins School of Education is one of nine academic divisions of the Johns Hopkins University. Established as a separate school in 2007, its origins can be traced back to the 1909 founding of Johns Hopkins’ College Courses for Teachers, later renamed College for Teachers. It was ranked first in the nation among graduate schools of education for 2015 by U.S. News & World Report.
The Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security is an independent, nonprofit organization of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and part of the Environmental Health and Engineering department. It is concerned with the areas of health consequences from epidemics and disasters as well as averting biological weapons development, and implications of biosecurity for the bioeconomy. It is a think tank that does policy research and gives policy recommendations to the United States government as well as the World Health Organization and the UN Biological Weapons Convention.
Scleroderma is a group of autoimmune diseases that may result in changes to the skin, blood vessels, muscles, and internal organs. The disease can be either localized to the skin or involve other organs as well. Symptoms may include areas of thickened skin, stiffness, feeling tired, and poor blood flow to the fingers or toes with cold exposure. One form of the condition, known as CREST syndrome, classically results in calcium deposits, Raynaud's syndrome, esophageal problems, thickening of the skin of the fingers and toes, and areas of small dilated blood vessels.
The SENS Research Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization co-founded by Michael Kope, Aubrey de Grey, Jeff Hall, Sarah Marr and Kevin Perrott in 2009. SENS Research Foundation is based in Mountain View, California, United States, and its activities include research programs and public relations work for the application of regenerative medicine to aging.
The Syngap Research Fund is a rare disease non-profit organization founded in 2018 and based in Palo Alto, California. Its mission is to improve the quality of life of SynGAP1-related intellectual disability patients through the research and development of treatments, therapies and support systems. The Syngap Research Fund is listed as a patient organization on the National Organization of Rare Disorder’s (NORD) database and on the National Institutes of Health's Genetic and Rare Diseases Information Center. The organization has issued more than $1,000,000 in grants and hosts an annual meeting prior to the American Epilepsy Society conference. It has advocated in favor of personalized medicine in front of the Congressional Personalized Medicine Caucus.
