Hello and welcome to my CMT Research Foundation fundraising page! This is a cause near and dear to my heart, as I was diagnosed with CMT Type 1X when I was 18. Everyone’s story with CMT is unique, so I’d like to take the time to tell mine.

From a very early age, I knew what Charcot Marie Tooth was and I could see its impact on my family. I remember very clearly how my mother would periodically ask my sisters and I to remove our socks and shoes so that she could look at the structure of our feet. She would look us over and say, "Oh yes. You definitely have 'the disease'." She always referred to CMT as "the disease", partly because Charcot Marie Tooth disease is a mouth-full, but also because we always knew exactly what she was talking about. CMT can be traced back in my family, with at least one case every generation, all the way back five generations. Family lore states that great-great grandmother exhibited symptoms before CMT became a diagnosable disease in 1898!

With this context, my diagnosis as age 18 was no surprise. What had followed was a frenzied attempt at obtaining a deeper understanding of what was happening in my body. I scoured scholarly articles that referenced CMT; and the more I read, the more I became fascinated with the intricacies of the body and the nervous system that governs it all. It is this fascination with CMT that has emboldened me to pursue a career in biomedical research. This fall, I will apply to graduate research programs and continue to do research in the subject that I am most passionate about, my own disease.

September is CMT Action Month, and I feel the call to join the fight to find a cure! Please help us in our goal to raise money for CMT research. I know times are tough, so all donations are welcome, even if it’s only a dollar or two. Thank you so much for your help!