The FSHD Global Research Foundation (FSHD Global) focuses on finding treatments and a cure for the debilitating muscle wasting disease Facioscapulohumeral Muscular Dystrophy (FSHD) by funding medical research, awareness and education.

Established in 2007, FSHD Global place a heavy emphasis on entrepreneurial philanthropy and innovation in their operations. This led FSHD Global’s Chairman to last year co-found a socially responsible Biotech called ‘FacioTherapies’ focused on finding a cure for FSHD. This biotech has aided the foundation to not only bridge the gap between research and the pharmaceutical industry, but has also helped modernize philanthropy, offering donors a new method of giving to the cause.

These methods include tax deductible donations, investment in FacioTherapies shares, as well as the ability to donate those shares back to the foundation, thus giving the foundation the ability to grow without any self-investment. In addition, FHSD Global launched a mobile app called ‘FSHD – Find a Cure’ that enables users to track exactly how and where their donations are allocated. After seeing this application in action one donor contributed $1 million dollars to the charity, which was then followed up by an additional donation of $1 million dollars.

FHSD Global were able to successfully run a donation matching campaign against the second donation, doubling that contribution by relying on their entrepreneurial focus. These contributions have helped to fund 34 ongoing medical research grants around the world, leading to multiple research breakthroughs that are leading to clinical trials in 2016.