STRIVE Applications for Duchenne Community Now Open

Applications are now open for the seventh annual Strategies to Realize Innovation, Vision, and Empowerment (STRIVE) Awards program for Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

The annual program, facilitated by PTC Therapeutics, was designed to help support initiatives that address unmet needs in the Duchenne community. Goals of STRIVE range from improving diagnosis and treatment, to bettering quality of life, increasing awareness of Duchenne, and fostering the next generation of advocates.

As in prior years, applicants can submit innovative proposals — unique and new projects that will benefit the Duchenne community, either for a particular geographic location or globally — or sustaining proposals, which seek to help organizations continue their missions and programs.

This year, applicants also may submit proposals for a third category: helping people with Duchenne transition from adolescence to adulthood. The category was added to reflect that, with continuously improving treatments, people with Duchenne muscular dystrophy are living longer than has ever been possible.

“The new award category recognizes the recent progressions seen in the treatment and management of Duchenne, with many individuals now living longer, fulfilled lives as adults – a milestone that seemed unachievable just a few years ago,” Mary Frances Harmon, senior vice president of corporate relations at PTC Therapeutics, said in a press release. “However, this improvement in care creates new challenges, and guidance and support from local organizations will be critical to helping these individuals smoothly navigate the transition to adulthood.”

Applications for STRIVE can be submitted by individual Duchenne groups or by collaborations of groups. The applications are reviewed by an independent, external committee of judges that have relevant experience in rare diseases, patient advocacy, and funding initiatives.

Additional information about the program, as well as the application, are available here. Applications are open through March 15; winners will be announced in September.

Since its beginning in 2015, the STRIVE program has helped to fund more than 30 patient initiatives from not-for-profit organizations around the world, according to PTC. Winning projects have helped to improve access to diagnosis and treatment, raise awareness, give emotional and physical support to caregivers, and provide career opportunities to people with Duchenne.