| |
|
 BACKGROUND
It all started when Marly C. Silverman, a chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia patient, founded P.A.N.D.O.R.A., a 501 c 3, non profit, charity organization, on July 1, 2002. P.A.N.D.O.R.A.’s main purpose is to advocate for quality of life and to raise awareness of the plight of persons with chronic fatigue syndrome-myalgic encephalomyelitis or encephalopathy, (CFS-ME), fibromyalgia (FM), Gulf War illness or syndrome (GWI-S), multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS), environmental illnesses (EI), and chronic or persistent Lyme disease (CLD-PLD).
In 2003, when Rebecca Artman joined P.A.N.D.O.R.A., Marly and Rebecca shared a mutual desire to establish Centers of Excellence in strategical locations in the U.S., for the illnesses that P.A.N.D.O.R.A. embraces. Over the years Marly and Rebecca walked the halls of Capitol Hill advocating for a center of excellence or the Florida Neuroendocrineimmune Center, which is still ongoing.
The objective was to create patient and legislative interest for the establishment of a state-of-the-art facility for individuals with neuroendocrineimmune disorders as a patient-driven grass roots effort. After Rebecca Artman joined the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Advisory Committee (CFSAC) in Washington, DC, Sandi Lanford, founder of the LANFORD FOUNDATION –Lifelyme™, Inc, a 501 c 3 non-profit charitable organization founded in Tallahassee, Florida joined the NEI Center™ Team in 2008. Marly and Sandi realized the project that started in Florida could also be implemented in other states, and more specifically in New Jersey. They noticed that out-of-state patients were enthusiastically expressing support for this type of project in their home states too.
From this initial collaboration, with Rebecca Artman and Sandi Lanford, two other outstanding individuals: Dr. Kenneth Friedman, (then Director – Public Policy of P.A.N.D.O.R.A.) currently P.A.N.D.O.R.A.'s Vice-President -Community Advisor & Public Policy; and Veny W. Musum, Vice-President of the LANFORD FOUNDATION - Lifelyme™, Inc. joined the principal and original team to make the original project multi-state. Future interactions with other minded advocates from the New England area led then to the NeuroEndocrineImmune (NEI) Center™ patient-driven project as we know it today.
Veny Musum and Sandi Lanford are no longer involved in the NEI Center™ Team project, nonetheless our remaining team is grateful for their outstanding past collaboration and support. The NEI Center™ will be the first research center dedicated to understanding multi-system illnesses and complex diseases and treating and chronic neuroendocrineimmune (NEI) illnesses.
Please provide your support to this patient-driven effort today. Donate here.
Join the NEI Center™ cause on Facebook here.
|
|
| |
|
© 2010 Pandora, Inc. All text, graphics, video, and audio files is owned or licensed to Pandora, Inc. and is protected by International copyright laws
and provisions unless otherwise indicated. For futher information, please read the complete Copyright Notice and Privacy Statement available on this site. |
|
