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Will you help to power the research that could find a cure for Jerry’s disease, so he and his family have more time for cuddles and smiles?

Jerrys Smile

Jerry has three siblings, a mum and dad who love him dearly, and a rare genetic disease called SPG-50 associated hereditary spastic paraplegia. Nobody knows how long someone with Jerry’s form of this disease can survive. But nobody has ever tried to treat it with gene therapy either.

Together we can beat children's genetic diseases.

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Fund basic research needed to understand rare diseases.
Help us purchase chemicals needed to isolate DNA and study the mutation causing a genetic disease.
Create a new AAV vector, a microscopic ‘scalpels’, to target a genetic disease.

Accelerate the search for cures.

By donating monthly, you can fund research that will have an even bigger impact on children living with a genetic disease.

Jerry is four years old, and likely as physically and mentally developed as he will ever be. His condition is neurodegenerative and is causing him to regress. Which means Jerry is going backwards and why research needs to move forward.

Jerry’s mum, Bess, says, ‘We’re so grateful for his expressive eyes, because Jerry is non-verbal. He can’t speak, and he’s very small for his age—so small, in fact, his two-year-old brother is now bigger than him.’

Only through research can Jerry’s rare genetic illness be cured. Helping keep his big brown eyes and joyous smile spreading light through his family, for longer.

There is hope

Jerry is one of the 1 in 20 Aussie kids born with a genetic disease or birth defect who needs your support if they’re to be given the chance to live a full and happy life.

Right now, scientists at Children’s Medical Research Institute are working on finding gene therapy treatments for children like Jerry. They are working to create microscopic tools, called vectors, that will transport healthy copies of the gene into the target tissue in patients with genetic diseases, to correct the faulty gene. Gene therapy has already proven effective for many genetic diseases that were previously seen as incurable.With your help, research can find answers for children like Jerry.

Please help stop mums like Bess having their time with their children cut short.

Your generosity today could help find a cure for Jerry and other children like him who live with a rare genetic disease.

With your donation, you make the research possible that will give hope to Bess, Jerry’s mum. Help Jerry’s smile stay with them into the future, help him grow into an adult.

Please donate today.

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