FROM HOPE TO TREATMENTS
A New Direction in Research Giving — Because Patients Cannot Wait
For individuals and families living with Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia (HSP) and Primary Lateral Sclerosis (PLS), research is more than something happening in a laboratory.
Research represents hope. Hope for answers. Hope for relief. Hope for treatments that can slow or stop progression. And hope that our children and grandchildren may one day face a different future.
But hope alone is not enough.
Patients and families have already waited far too long. Every year matters. Every discovery matters. And every opportunity to move promising science closer to patients deserves our attention.
What Are We Missing That Could Help Patients Sooner?
That is one of the most important questions guiding the Spastic Paraplegia Foundation as we continue building our roadmap toward treatments and therapies.
We are asking researchers and scientific partners to look beyond individual genes and consider the biological problems that may be shared across different forms of HSP, including genetically undiagnosed HSP, and potentially PLS.
We are looking for opportunities that may already exist but have not yet been fully explored:
- Existing medications that might be repurposed to help patients.
- Promising molecules, enzymes, and biological pathways that could lead to new therapies.
- Clinical trials that could responsibly test promising treatments in people.
- Biomarkers that could help measure disease progression and determine whether a treatment is working.
- Connections between researchers and discoveries that could accelerate progress across multiple forms of HSP and PLS.
We want to identify what is missing between a promising laboratory discovery and a treatment that could make a meaningful difference in someone's life.
2026: Building Roadmaps & Momentum. 2027: Accelerating Toward Treatments.
Throughout 2026, SPF has been actively bringing researchers, clinicians, patients, families, and scientific and regulatory partners together to strengthen the pathway from discovery to treatments.
From advancing clinical-trial readiness through SP-CERN and C-Path to connecting researchers across institutions and countries, we are building on years of research investments and collaborations.
In 2027, our goal is to accelerate that momentum.
Through our emerging research-giving initiative, we intend to identify promising medications, molecules, biological pathways, and opportunities for clinical trials—while asking what more can be done to help meaningful discoveries reach patients sooner.
We are not starting from scratch. We are building on the science, partnerships, and progress already underway.
We are asking more than whether a research project deserves funding.
We are asking what it would take to turn that discovery into something a patient could actually receive—and how soon.
Not every promising discovery will become a treatment, and careful scientific testing remains essential. But we believe opportunities to accelerate progress deserve to be identified, connected, and pursued.
Together, We Can Help Change the Future
We carry the stories of those we have lost, the determination of those living with HSP and PLS today, and the hopes of families who wonder what tomorrow may bring.
They are the reasons we must keep moving forward.
Awareness creates understanding. Research creates possibilities. Action moves us toward treatments.
Together, we can help turn discoveries into therapies—and hope into a future with more answers, more options, and more possibilities.
Something Important Is Coming in 2027!
What if the next promising treatment opportunity is already taking shape in a research laboratory somewhere in the world? What if connecting discoveries, researchers, and existing medications could help us find new pathways toward treatments?
These are the possibilities SPF is working to uncover.
Behind the scenes, we are building upon years of research, new scientific partnerships, and promising discoveries to help accelerate the search for treatments and therapies for HSP and PLS.
And we look forward to sharing more with you!
Keep visiting the SPF website and reviewing the EBlasts as we reveal exciting new directions, research opportunities, and ways you can be part of the journey.
Because the next important discovery may be closer than we think—and together, we can help move it forward.
Coming January 1, 2027 — A New Research-Giving Initiative from SPF.
From Hope to Action. From Discoveries to Treatments.
