Growing garden...

My family and I traveled to Michigan over the weekend. While there I had the opportunity to catch up with a long-time friend who owns and operates his family farm. He told me about the challenges of a Midwest spring in getting all of the planting done, how the selection of seed can make a huge difference and the long hours involved. Even once it is all completed there is so much that will influence the harvest – things like the weather that you have no control over and the chance the seeds don’t have the desired yield. There’s a lot of hard work and patience involved, but when the time is right and everything comes together, the yield can be amazing.


This is not unlike medical research. The DMRF works with our fabulous scientific advisors and puts forth great effort to identify the right projects and investigators to invest in. Once approved and the work begins, we have to wait to see what this year’s fields of grants will yield. Our investigators work long hours – you can’t always schedule the right time for the next step in a study. They keep plugging away. The DMRF checks in with the investigators from time-to-time but mostly we have to hope the conditions are right for a good harvest. We have been fortunate to have worked with many of the finest dystonia researchers on the planet, who are working tirelessly for this community.


Think of our research program as the dystonia community garden – where highly selected scientific projects have been planted. Just think, when the timing is right and the conditions just so, imagine what our yield could be! We will keep you posted on how this garden is growing.