*We are updating this campaign to reflect our new fundraising goal!*

To everyone who has joined us in fundraising over these past 5 years, THANK YOU!

Your Givebutter links (eg. givebutter.com/2-before-2/YourPersonalLink) are still good and live and can continue to be shared with your friends, family and communities. THANK YOU.

Austin and mom, Hannah, in Estepona, Spain, summer 2026

Austin turned 7 this year, and we are raising $700,000 to move three potential treatments out of the lab and toward children. We are calling it 7Up.

Here is why now.

When Mark and I started the L-CMD Research Foundation in 2020, we had one job: research, as fast as humanly possible. Because of YOU, here is where that stands.

As a community, we have raised more than $2.5 million.
We started with one gene therapy project. We now have three, advancing in parallel: gene therapy, prime editing, and antisense oligonucleotides.
We have built the tools and the team, adding new models to test therapies in and bringing US and international labs together into shared research roadmaps.

And the part that matters most: all three projects are fully funded through pre-clinical work. Every dollar of it!

Which is exactly why we are asking now.

Each project has reached its inflection point, the moment where validated pre-clinical data turns into actually making and testing a full composed therapy. Pushing all three of these projects forward means at least $700,000 in FDA consulting, toxicology studies and further iterations on efficacy.

Halloween 2026

Read more about L-CMD and Austin's story below:

Austin, 2 year old blond boy in white romper, lying down playing with blue balloons and smiling AUSTIN playing with balloons for his 2nd birthday in August 2021

Please help us save our son’s life. Austin is 7 years old and has a fatal, muscle-wasting disease called LMNA-related congenital muscular dystrophy (L-CMD). In order to save Austin and similarly situated children, we have started the L-CMD Research Foundation. The purpose of the foundation is to fund the work of researchers and scientists who will develop treatments and a cure for L-CMD.

We have funded 3 critical treatment pathways, which could literally save Austin and others from childhood death. We need to hit the gas on each of these ~ gene therapy, prime editing, ASO (antisense oglionucleotide).

However, the effectiveness of these types of treatments decreases as children grow and as the disease progresses; so time is running out.

With YOUR help, we have raised over $2,500,000 to date which has allowed us to fund pre-clinical research into each of these projects. We have updated this campaign's fundraising goal to reflect our new goal: We are raising $700,000 to fund the next stages of these three projects: gene therapy, prime editing, and ASO. We are rawly and openly asking for your support of these projects - one of which we believe will be our son’s best hope for survival.

L-CMD is severe. Kids statistically live less than 18 years (in one study of kids who had passed away, those who never achieved walking - like Austin - died at a median age of just 8 years old). L-CMD leads to respiratory insufficiency or heart issues. This progressive disease greatly affects Austin’s strength already. He has no head control, a weak torso, arms and legs, so he cannot stand, walk or even sit up or eat by mouth.

Despite his limitations, however, Austin is quite happy. He loves music, "dancing" and playing video games with his older brother. He can't lift heavy toys or big books, but he likes to read on the Kindle and listen to the Tonie Box. He is cognitively quite typical for a child his age, excelling particularly in math.

Given that Austin is on the severe end of the spectrum, we cannot wait for the science to reach us; we must go seeking the innovative, most promising scientific technologies. Since his diagnosis in February 2020, we've been knocking on doors (virtually), talking with scientists and doctors, biotech firms and academic labs, and we've concluded that gene therapy will give Austin and the other kids with L-CMD the best chance to survive and thrive.

We know that the sooner kids with degenerative diseases receive gene therapy, the better the outcomes. The implications of this science could change the world, and we stand poised at the tipping point of making these treatments and cures a reality for many.

We KNOW that we cannot do this alone. We need your help.

HOW YOU CAN HELP TODAY:
1) Donate what you can
2) Share this fundraiser with your networks via email and social media
3) Share our social media posts
IG: www.instagram.com/lcmd.foundation
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LCMD.foundation
4) Reach out to us at hannah@lcmdresearch.org to discuss larger donations, donating via check, stock or crypto, organizing a fundraiser, company matching, corporate sponsorship, media/PR, grants

It ALL helps, and it’s ALL important.

WHERE IS YOUR MONEY GOING?
All money raised will go directly to scientific research. We do not take out any expenses for salaries, etc.

WHY SO MUCH MONEY?
Research and development of cutting edge technologies unfortunately often falls to patient groups to fund them until such a stage that a large pharmaceutical company may see the monetary value and take it the rest of the way to full clinical trial and distribution.

URGENCY IS THE NAME OF THE GAME
Being a progressive disease, L-CMD will strip away Austin’s physical abilities to the point that he will no longer be able to move and his heart will fail to function properly without assistance. The sooner we can intervene, the better chance he will have to regain lost muscle function and stave off more heart issues.

THANK YOU for considering being a huge part of Austin's success story. Let's change the world together because of the generosity of you, who see the light and joy in Austin. We are so hopeful.

We're ready. Let's GO!

THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF OUR HEARTS, Mark, Hannah, Ean + AUSTIN
L-CMD Research Foundation
EIN: 85-2640499 (501c3)
*All funds raised will be used for scientific research and development*

7UP!!

Raising $700k while Austin is 7