Our Crowdfunding Groups
This project has ended!
To support the Agostini family's 2021 fundraiser, please visit:
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 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@support.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