Thoughts About Giving
MSAA’s Improving Lives Benefit Recognizes Two Very Special Honorees
We are all greatly looking forward to Wednesday, May 15th, when MSAA’s 10th Improving Lives Benefit will take place at the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia and will be livestreamed, virtually connecting people across the country from the comfort of their homes. This vitally important event is not only inspirational, but also provides an opportunity to raise funds for MSAA’s urgently needed programs and services, as well as to recognize two wonderful honorees for their critically important contributions to the MS community.
Each year, this event creates much excitement among the attendees as they learn about the impact of MSAA’s programs and have an opportunity to hear encouraging messages from members of the MS community. Another exciting highlight of the evening is when we pay tribute to both our Mission Honoree and our Corporate Honoree. This year’s very special and highly acclaimed Mission Honoree is Dr. Barry Hendin, MSAA’s Chief Medical Officer, and our distinguished Corporate Honoree is Antidote Technologies, a digital patient engagement company. More details are provided on each of these esteemed honorees later in this column.
As mentioned earlier, MSAA will be livestreaming the Improving Lives Benefit, allowing everyone – regardless of location and circumstance – the opportunity to share in this uplifting and motivating experience. And whether you are attending in person or watching from the comfort and convenience of your own home… everyone will enjoy our amazing host, Tyler Campbell. An MS advocate and motivational speaker, Tyler is extremely passionate and has served as host of our Improving Lives Benefit for the past few years. His dynamic personality and profound personal experience as a person living with MS is sure to keep everyone inspired throughout the event.
Please visit MyMSAA.org/benefit for more details including: purchasing tickets, sponsorship information, and registering for the livestream.
Special Thanks to the Following Sponsors for MSAA’s Improving Lives Benefit:
Presenting Sponsor: Novartis
Silver Sponsors: EMD Serono – Sandoz – Genentech – TG Therapeutics
Corporate Partner Sponsors: Polar Products – Viatris
MSAA’s Improving Lives Benefit 2024 Mission Honoree
This year’s Mission Honoree is Barry A. Hendin, MD, MSAA’s Chief Medical Officer.
At MSAA, we have been extremely fortunate to have such a highly accomplished neurologist and MS specialist serving as our Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Barry Hendin has been working with MSAA for many years, presenting and speaking at educational programs, and in June of 2019, he became MSAA’s Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Hendin has continued to make tremendous contributions to MSAA’s mission of Improving Lives Today.
As MSAA’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Hendin provides valuable guidance on numerous initiatives and performs expert review of all medical information provided by MSAA to the MS community – often encompassing late-breaking news and intricate clinical trial findings. He has been a featured speaker for several of MSAA’s informative webinars. Dr. Hendin has also played a major role in several vital initiatives, from MSAA’s webinar series, “What You Need to Know About COVID-19 and MS,” along with Dr. Carrie Hersh, to the development of MSAA’s innovative digital tool, the Ultimate MS Treatment Guide. We are grateful for Dr. Hendin’s decades of experience in the field of multiple sclerosis and greatly value his unwavering commitment to the care of individuals with MS.
In addition to his work at MSAA, Dr. Hendin currently serves as director of the Arizona Integrated Neurology MS Center, director of the Multiple Sclerosis Clinic at Banner University Medical Center, and clinical professor of neurology at the University of Arizona Medical School. He was previously a neurologist with Phoenix Neurological Associates, Ltd. for 45 years.
Dr. Hendin has been a great asset to MSAA and his list of achievements is extensive. To date, he has had more than 15 clinical appointments to various medical facilities, seven academic appointments, and served on nearly 30 councils, committees, board of directors, and a task force. In addition to his many honors and awards, Dr. Hendin has co-authored more than 30 medical articles and has been the principal investigator for more than 115 clinical trials.
Dr. Barry Hendin shared, “I am greatly honored to be recognized as MSAA’s Mission Honoree for this year’s Improving Lives Benefit. Receiving this award is a true compliment, and I am as humbled as I am grateful. I have been as enriched by the experience of working with MSAA, as I have been a contributor. My goal and the goal of MSAA remains the same: to improve the lives of people living with multiple sclerosis.”
Above all is Dr. Hendin’s unrelenting compassion to those in need and his enthusiasm to assist with any initiative that is of benefit to the MS community. We are extremely appreciative of all of Dr. Hendin’s work and admire his positive approach to the care of individuals affected by MS. It is with great pleasure that we recognize Dr. Hendin as our Mission Honoree at this year’s Improving Lives Benefit.
MSAA’s Improving Lives Benefit 2024 Corporate Honoree
Our Corporate Honoree is Antidote Technologies, a digital patient engagement company that offers online access to clinical trial information. For individuals looking to participate in the development of new treatments, Antidote provides the vital service of connecting patients to the appropriate clinical trials through an innovative and easy-to-use online resource.
MSAA first announced our partnership with Antidote Technologies in 2017, with the goals of increasing awareness of MS clinical trials and providing people with easy access to this important information. Through this partnership, we added the Antidote Match clinical trial search tool to our website, which can be accessed at mymsaa.org/clinicaltrials, allowing visitors to find trials that are right for them or their loved ones in minutes, just by answering a few questions.
According to Antidote, 80% of trials are delayed or closed due to the difficulty in finding patients to participate. This means that research is taking far longer than it should, while patients and care partners continue to wait for answers. Antidote strives to speed up the process through precision recruitment to help fill clinical trials faster, in conjunction with their Match tool developed to make the process of finding trials easier for patients.
Antidote also provides a number of resources on its website, including answers to frequently asked questions, educational webinars, detailed information on the different types and phases of clinical trials, questions to ask researchers, and
patient stories.
We are grateful to have partnered with Antidote for the past several years in offering clinical trial information to the MS community and are thrilled to be able to continue this partnership. The resources Antidote provides are critical for the development of new treatments for MS and to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of current ones. We are extremely proud to partner with Antidote Technologies and to recognize them as this year’s Improving Lives Benefit Corporate Honoree.
“Antidote is thrilled to be recognized as the 2024 Corporate Honoree at the MSAA Improving Lives Benefit,” said Samantha Veeck, Antidote’s co-CEO. “Over the past seven years, Antidote and MSAA have worked in partnership to connect the MS community with clinical trial opportunities and further our joint mission of advancing medical research. We are grateful for this opportunity and hopeful about what’s next in the exciting multiple sclerosis research space.”