Time
small percentage of the population,
Chuck says, available funding
for MS research doesn’t always
carry the sense of urgency he and
Margery would like to see.
In an effort to fulfill their vision
of finding a way to halt or cure
MS, and to promote awareness
of the disease, the Baranciks
established the Barancik Prize
for Innovation in MS Research.
The prize awards $100,000
annually to “an exceptional
scientist or a team of scientists
whose work in MS research
demonstrates outstanding
innovation and originality.”
The goal of the Barancik Prize,
which is the largest-ever MS
research prize, is to attract more
researchers to the field of MS;
encourage and reward sound,
The Barancik Prize will attract more
researchers to the field of MS; encourage
and reward sound, creative approaches;
and promote awareness.
The Baranciks hope the prize will help MS researchers, like the one pictured here, develop better diagnostic tools, among other objectives.
creative approaches; and promote
greater public and institutional
awareness of the disease. Meeting
these goals will help address some
of the immediate challenges that
concern Chuck and all who are
affected by MS: development
of improved diagnostic tools;
enhanced training for clinicians;
treatments for progressive MS;
and increased investment in MS
research by the National Institutes
of Health, pharmaceutical and
biotechnology companies,
academic institutions and the
Society.
The first Barancik Prize winner
will be announced in May, and
nominations for future prizes will
close Jan. 31 of each subsequent
year. A 10-member selection
committee made up of leaders
in science, medicine and MS
advocacy will evaluate the
nominees for exceptional
innovation and originality in
MS research, the potential of
their research to help treat or
cure MS, and overall scientific
accomplishments that establish
them as future leaders in MS
research.
PHOTO BY BILL STANTON
Ultimately, Chuck hopes the
prize will spur researchers to
take a “shot in the dark” and
develop innovative, scientifically
sound answers to the wish list
of questions about MS that he
and Margery first posed nearly
a quarter-century ago. n
Vicky Uhland is a freelance writer and
editor in Lafayette, Colo.
