CureDuchenne, a non-profit organization dedicated to finding and funding a cure for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD), announced today that Andrea Epstein, a 20+ year health care marketing and business development executive, has accepted the new position of Executive Director, effective today. Ms Epstein will assume lead responsibility for the organization’s fundraising and business development activities, as well as overseeing marketing, public relations, grants and corporate/private donor strategies.
Ms. Epstein’s prior experience includes senior marketing executive positions at Costa-Mesa based Bright Now! Dental and Dallas-based Medical Care America. Most recently, she was president of Andrea Epstein Communications, a full service health care marketing firm, and was publisher of MD News-Orange County, a regional business and lifestyle magazine for physicians. Her non-profit work includes numerous volunteer positions in local education, religious and fine arts organizations.
Debra Miller, co-founder and President, noted, “CureDuchenne is growing into a leading foundation for Duchenne research. We are confident that Andrea’s extensive experience and success in business development and management within the health care field will facilitate and expedite this growth. Paul and I will continue to focus on finding the most promising research available and do everything humanly possible to get these therapies to our boys quickly. The clock is ticking for all Duchenne boys and we are pleased that Andrea has adopted our cause.”
Ms. Epstein added, “I am very pleased to join CureDuchenne and to be a part of a team that is so dedicated to finding and funding a cure for all of the boys affected with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. My goal is to apply my past successes in health care development and revenue growth to augment the outstanding work-to-date of the founders and staff. I hope to be an added catalyst in helping them achieve their singular mission of wiping out DMD in time to save this generation of Duchenne boys.”
In her new position, Ms. Epstein will report to Debra Miller, who retains direct overall responsibility for the organization’s research strategies and direction in conjunction with CureDuchenne’s scientific advisory board.
About Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy
Every year, an estimated 20,000 babies (almost all of them boys) are born with Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Their muscle cells will die and not regenerate. They will be in wheel chairs by 12 and, historically, most have not survived their teenage years. An estimated 1 in every 3,500 boys worldwide is afflicted with Duchenne. It knows no boundaries and crosses all cultures and races. The gene mutation that causes Duchenne is usually passed from mother to son, but fully one-third of cases are spontaneous. It can happen in any family. There currently is no cure, but for the first time, there are promising therapies on the horizon.
About CureDuchenne
CureDuchenne is a non-profit organization founded in 2003 by Debra and Paul Miller. CureDuchenne’s vision is its name … to cure Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. CureDuchenne aggressively seeks the most promising, leading edge research breakthroughs and expedites them to the clinical trial process. The ultimate goal … give the boys that have Duchenne now a chance to live a normal life by expediting the availability of treatments/therapies and or a cure that can give quality of life to Duchenne boys, much like insulin does for diabetics.