MSAA Insights: Improving Lives, Creating Impact
By Amanda Montague, EdM
MSAA President and CEO
Every person who connects with MSAA becomes part of a community united by the belief that no one should face multiple sclerosis alone.
Some members of the MSAA family come to us seeking information after a new diagnosis. Others need help obtaining an MRI, cooling products, or guidance from a compassionate Helpline specialist. Some participate in our educational programs or have joined the Multiple Sclerosis Implementation Network® (MSIN®). Others volunteer, share our resources, tell their stories, or make a financial contribution so that someone they may never meet can receive the help they need. However you found your way to MSAA, you are part of our mission and we are so grateful that you are here.
As we approach the end of the year, I especially want to thank those who have supported MSAA financially. Whether you made your first gift this year, have given for many years, or contributed at a time when you were able, please know that your generosity has mattered. It matters deeply to MSAA, but even more importantly, it matters to the people and families we serve.
In this issue of The Motivator, you will see examples of what our extended MSAA family is making possible. We are deeply grateful for the generosity of the Veyl family, whose support is helping us launch the next phase of our MRI Access Program, which will incorporate advanced AI MRI technology, providing participating individuals and their healthcare professionals with more detailed information from their MRI scans. Our pilot program with Claimable will explore a new way to help people navigate access challenges. And the Multiple Sclerosis Implementation Network®, or MSIN®, is reaching an important milestone with its first study involving Octave’s MSDA biomarker test.
Also in this issue, our cover story takes a closer look at artificial intelligence (AI) and its growing role in MS healthcare. AI may create new opportunities to improve diagnosis, personalize care, and accelerate research, but it also raises important questions about privacy, bias, equity, and access. MSAA has an essential role to play in these conversations, helping ensure that innovation is guided by the voices and experiences of people affected by MS.
You will also meet MSAA Board Members Terrie and Kevin in our Thoughts About Giving column. Terrie and Kevin are both extraordinary people who happen to be living with MS. Their stories reflect the personal reasons people choose to support MSAA and demonstrate how individual acts of generosity can become a powerful collective force.
If you have supported MSAA in the past, thank you. You have helped make MSAA a trusted source of help and hope, and we never take your generosity for granted. If you are considering a year-end gift, I hope you will choose to invest in our mission again. Every gift, at every level, strengthens our ability to improve lives today while creating greater possibilities for tomorrow.
And if this is your first introduction to MSAA, I warmly invite you to join us. There is a place for you in this family: as a donor, advocate, volunteer, partner, or friend. Together, we can ensure that everyone affected by MS feels supported, empowered, and never alone.
Amanda Montague, EdM is the President & CEO for the Multiple Sclerosis Association of America (MSAA). Ms. Montague has been a dedicated member of MSAA’s senior management team and a vital part of MSAA for more than 20 years. In her previous role as Chief Mission Officer at MSAA, Ms. Montague led all programmatic and educational initiatives, as well as partnerships with stakeholders and relationships with the MS healthcare professional community. In addition to her work at MSAA, Ms. Montague also serves as a Stakeholder Reviewer for the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) in Washington, DC, has served as a member of the American Academy of Neurology’s (AAN) MS Quality Measure Review Panel, and has published and presented research in major journals and at national and international conferences.
Amanda has a BA in Economics from Smith College, an EdM in Risk & Prevention from Harvard Graduate School of Education, and an MA in International Patient Advocacy Management from Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Rome, Italy.