March 31, 2004 01:58 PM US Eastern Timezone

Intuit Co-Founder Gives $1 Million to Accelerate Scientific Discovery

SARATOGA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 31, 2004--Scott Cook, co-founder and chairman of the executive committee of Intuit, donated $1 million to the Saratoga, Calif.-based Myelin Repair Foundation (MRF), according to Scott Johnson, MRF founder and president. Cook's gift will initiate a five-year collaborative research project involving five of the world's leading neuroscientists focused on myelin research. With MRF's support, the scientists expect to discover important myelin repair treatments, bringing hope to the more than 2.5 million people suffering from multiple sclerosis (MS), a degenerative disease of the central nervous system.

"The Myelin Repair Foundation is pioneering a new way to organize medical research that speeds breakthrough drug discovery. It uses a unique approach of shared incentives to produce intense collaboration and rapid idea-sharing among the leading neuroscience centers," said Cook. "As I listened to these scientists, their enthusiasm and commitment for this new method of medical research is both clear and contagious. I am proud to be a part of it."

"The lack of effective treatments for MS is discouraging," said Dr. Martin Raff, M.D., professor of biology at University College London and a leading researcher in developmental neurobiology. "There is no doubt that progress in discovering new treatments would be greatly accelerated if scientists in the field collaborated rather than competed. By providing incentives for collaboration, the MRF model is pointing the way to a new team-based research model that brings breakthroughs from the bench to the patient much faster. Scott Cook's gift to MRF could be launching a sea change in medical research."

"I can't say enough about Scott Cook's generosity and his recognition of the importance of remodeling the research process that leads to drug discoveries," said Scott Johnson, founder and president of MRF. "We are grateful for his support."

About the Myelin Repair Foundation

The Myelin Repair Foundation (MRF), a Northern California-based, non-profit research foundation is the only research effort exclusively committed to discovering how to restore the body's natural myelin repair process, and to moving these discoveries rapidly into development of drug therapies that improve the quality of life for people with MS. The MRF model of scientific collaboration provides a supportive environment in which leading research scientists at multiple universities and experienced business executives can work together to execute a five-year research plan -- with milestones, parallel experiments, collaboration, and, most important, a constant focus on developing effective treatments for multiple sclerosis. MRF expects to raise $25 million in the next two years to support the research activities of five of the world's leading neuroscientists in myelin repair.

About Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and Myelin Repair

MS is a degenerative disease of the central nervous system that affects more than 2.5 million people. The breaking down of myelin, the protective coating surrounding the nerve fibers of the brain and spinal cord, and the body's inability to repair it, are the mechanisms behind central nervous system diseases such as MS. By combining their research efforts, MRF scientists expect to develop viable drug targets that restore the body's natural ability to repair myelin, reversing the effects of MS.

Original article can be found here