We often talk about the important role that patient advocates play in helping advance research. That was demonstrated in a powerful way last week when the CIRM Board approved almost $12 million to fund a clinical trial targeting a rare childhood disorder called cystinosis.

The award, to Stephanie Cherqui and her team at UC San Diego (in collaboration with UCLA) was based on the scientific merits of the program. But without the help of the cystinosis patient advocate community that would never have happened. Years ago the community held a series of fundraisers, bake sales etc., and used the money to help Dr. Cherqui get her research started.

That money enabled Dr. Cherqui to get the data she needed to apply to CIRM for funding to do more detailed research, which led to her award last week. There to celebrate the moment was Nancy Stack. Her testimony to the Board was a moving celebration of how long they have worked to get to this moment, and how much hope this research is giving them.

Hello my name is Nancy Stack and I am the founder and president of the Cystinosis Research Foundation.  Our daughter Natalie was diagnosed with cystinosis when she was an infant. 

Cystinosis is a rare disease that is characterized by the abnormal accumulation of cystine in every cell in the body.  The build-up of cystine eventually destroys every organ in the body including the kidneys, eyes, liver, muscles, thyroid and brain.  The average age of death from cystinosis and its complications is 28 years of age.

For our children and adults with cystinosis, there are no healthy days. They take between 8-12 medications around the clock every day just to stay alive – Natalie takes 45 pills a day.  It is a relentless and devastating disease.

Medical complications abound and our children’s lives are filled with a myriad of symptoms and treatments – there are g-tube feedings, kidney transplants, bone pain, daily vomiting,  swallowing difficulties, muscle wasting, severe gastrointestinal side effects and for some blindness.   

We started the Foundation in 2003.  We have worked with and funded Dr. Stephanie Cherqui since 2006.   As a foundation, our resources are limited but we were able to fund the initial grants for Stephanie’s  Stem Cell studies. When CIRM awarded a grant to Stephanie in 2016, it allowed her to complete the studies, file the IND and as a result, we now have FDA approval for the clinical trial. Your support has changed the course of this disease. 

When the FDA approved the clinical trial for cystinosis last year, our community was filled with a renewed sense of hope and optimism.  I heard from 32 adults with cystinosis – all of them interested in the clinical trial.  Our adults know that this is their only chance to live a full life. Without this treatment, they will die from cystinosis.  In every email I received, there was a message of hope and gratitude. 

I received an email from a young woman who said this, “It’s a new awakening to learn this morning that human clinical trials have been approved by the FDA. I reiterate my immense interest to participate in this trial as soon as possible because my quality of life is at a low ebb and the trial is really my only hope. Time is running out”. 

And a mom of a 19 year old young man who wants to be the first patient in the trial wrote and said this, “On the day the trial was announced I started to cry tears of pure happiness and I thought, a mother somewhere gets to wake up and have a child who will no longer have cystinosis. I felt so happy for whom ever that mom would be….I never imagined that the mom I was thinking about could be me. I am so humbled to have this opportunity for my son to try to live disease free.

My own daughter ran into my arms that day and we cried tears of joy – finally, the hope we had clung to was now a reality. We had come full circle.  I asked Natalie how it felt to know that she could be cured and she said, “I have spent my entire life thinking that I would die from cystinosis in my 30s but now, I might live a full life and I am thinking about how much that changes how I think about my future. I never planned too far ahead but now I can”. 

As a mother, words can’t possible convey what it feels like to know that my child has a chance to live a long, healthy life free of cystinosis – I can breathe again. On behalf of all the children and adults with cystinosis, thank you for funding Dr. Cherqui, for caring about our community, for valuing our children and for making this treatment a reality.  Our community is ready to start this trial – thank you for making this happen.

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CIRM will be celebrating the role of patient advocates at a free event in Los Angeles tomorrow. It’s at the LA Convention Center and here are the details. And did I mention it’s FREE!

Tue, June 25, 2019 – 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM PDT

Petree Hall C., Los Angeles Convention Center, 1201 South Figueroa Street Los Angeles, CA 90015

And on Wednesday, USC is holding an event highlighting the progress being made in fighting diseases that destroy vision. Here’s a link to information about the event.