Washington, DC-- To support work in promoting medical innovation, accelerating medical research and addressing barriers that slow the search for cures, the Sumner M. Redstone Charitable Foundation today awarded FasterCures/The Center for Accelerating Medical Solutions a grant of $35 million over five years.
Since its launch four years ago, FasterCures has enlisted many allies in the fight to accelerate medical solutions. The Research Acceleration and Innovation Network (TRAIN), formed by FasterCures in 2004, brings together a variety of nonprofit disease research organizations to promote innovation in disease research. These organizations are working to defeat diseases such as Prostate Cancer, Breast Cancer, Alzheimer′s, Diabetes (both Type 1 and 2), Autism, Brain Cancer, HIV/AIDS, Malaria, Epilepsy, MS, Parkinson′s, Heart Disease, ALS, Cystic Fibrosis, Multiple Myeloma, and many others. As a result of today′s award, TRAIN will be renamed The Redstone Acceleration and Innovation Network.
"After three decades of supporting medical researchers, I realized that progress against major diseases wasn′t moving fast enough," said FasterCures Chairman Michael Milken. "That′s why I joined with distinguished members of our board to create FasterCures. One of our goals is to remove many of the bureaucratic and regulatory barriers that researchers face in pursuing better treatments and cures for all life-threatening conditions. This magnificent grant from Sumner Redstone will bring that work to a new level of effectiveness. Patients everywhere will be the ultimate beneficiaries."
Sumner Redstone said, "FasterCures is a powerful agent of change and hope in the fight to speed both research and critical patient treatments for a wide range of deadly diseases. Mike Milken and the fantastic team at FasterCures are literally changing the way we the search for medical answers and cures, seeking to bring efficiency and effectiveness. Most important, they are completely focused on making sure that patients get the full benefit of the remarkable advances that are within our grasp. I am pleased and proud to make a contribution to their historic and heroic work."
The grant announced today will also help support the FasterCures Philanthropy Advisory Service, which began with grants from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The Advisory Service, which grew out of the TRAIN group, will help inform philanthropists of the diverse opportunities to fund nonprofit disease research, with the goal of expanding and accelerating medical research philanthropy.
In addition, FasterCures will expand its Patients Helping Doctors (PHD) Program. Patients are the most valuable resource in medical research. The PHD Program works to expand medical researchers′ use of electronic health records, health information technology, tissue banks and to speed recruitment of patients for clinical trials.
"Words cannot express our gratitude to Sumner Redstone for this phenomenal gift. We will work tirelessly to thank him through our deeds — through working with our many partners to speed new treatments and cures to patients as quickly as possible," said FasterCures President Greg Simon. "This extraordinary gift will ensure that researchers, doctors, and patients will have a strong ally in FasterCures in the fight to develop new medical solutions to improve the quality of life for millions of people in America and across the globe."
"Today the Milken Institute is honored and humbled by the generosity of Sumner Redstone. His gift is recognition of FasterCures' work in identifying and removing barriers that impede medical research and its mission of saving lives by saving time," said Milken Institute President Michael Klowden. "With this gift, FasterCures can expand its efforts in discovering and promoting innovation that will help accelerate the discovery of cures."
FasterCures/The Center for Accelerating Medical Solutions is a nonprofit "action tank" formed under the auspices of the Milken Institute with a mission to identify and implement global solutions to accelerate the process of discovery and clinical development of new therapies for the treatment of deadly and debilitating diseases. FasterCures webpage is www.fastercures.org.