Thanks for visiting!

This project is now in update mode. Check back regularly to see how things are progressing.

Agostini Family Ataxia Research Fundraiser 2023

Agostini Family Ataxia Research Fundraiser 2023 Image
$70,206
28%
Raised toward our $250,000 Goal
158 Donors
Project has ended
Project ended on December 31, at 11:59 PM PST
Project Owners

Agostini Family Ataxia Research Fundraiser 2023

Thank you to everyone for supporting us in reaching our first-year goal of our multi-year project. The outpouring of love and support shown by all of you has touched our hearts. Dr. Fogel and his fellow researchers have now started their research towards a cure for Matthew and Christian. We hope you will continue to support us in this worthy cause by donating towards our second-year goal of $250,000.

 

Double your impact! Your gift will be matched dollar-for-dollar by a generous anonymous donor up to $42,000!

 

Matthew and Christian Agostini are typical brothers who like sports, video games and spending time with their family and friends. They also happen to have a rare, neurodegenerative condition called ataxia with oculomotor apraxia. While Matthew and Christian have very strong muscle strength, they struggle with every day functions of walking, talking, head and trunk stability and eye movements, which affects them in many ways that most people take for granted. As in the case of Matthew and Christian, ataxia strikes children at an early age, causing struggle, frustration, loss of independence and heartache. But there is also courage, strength and the will to persevere as Matthew and Christian demonstrate to everyone who comes into contact with them.

Now there is hope - actually potential - for a cure for Matthew, Christian and other children who suffer with ataxia. The Agostini Ataxia-1 Research Fund has been founded to fund groundbreaking research being conducted by Brent Fogel, M.D., Ph.D. He is the Director of the UCLA Neurogenetics Clinic and a member of the UCLA Ataxia Center. Dr. Fogel is committed to launching a new series of investigations focused on researching the use of gene therapy - which corrects defective genes that are responsible for disease development - as a potential treatment for ataxia with oculomotor apraxia.

Gifts to the Agostini Ataxia-1 Research Fund directly support gene therapy as a treatment for ataxia with oculomotor apraxia led by Dr. Fogel. With your support, Dr. Fogel will receive crucial funding necessary to develop a cure for Matthew and Christian's condition.

Gifts can be made online (spark.ucla.edu/mattandchris) or by mail. Please mail checks (payable to "UCLA Foundation") with memo "Agostini Ataxia-1 Research Fund" to:

Ms. Luba Skoropad, CFO UCLA Neurology Finance Office

710 Westwood Plaza, 4-151 RNRC

Los Angeles, CA 90095-1769

Thank you for your kindness, blessings, and support.

Questions? Contact Elizabeth Naito, Senior Director of Development, at enaito@mednet.ucla.edu or telephone: 310-206-6749

If you do not wish to receive further fundraising information from UCLA Health Sciences, please either call us at (855) 364-6945 or email us at OptOutUCLAHSD@support.ucla.edu, providing your name, address, phone number, email, and from which department you're requesting to be removed. Please review UCLA and the UCLA Foundation’s Disclosure Statements for Prospective Donors at www.uclafoundation.org/disclosures

Levels
Choose a giving level

$25

$25

Every dollar adds up to help us meet our goal!

$50

$50

Every dollar adds up to help us meet our goal!

$100

$100

Every dollar adds up to help us meet our goal!

$250

$250

Every dollar adds up to help us meet our goal!

$500

$500

Every dollar adds up to help us meet our goal!

$1,000

$1,000

Every dollar adds up to help us meet our goal!

Our Crowdfunding Groups