University of Rochester Medical Center
Richard Fields Philanthropy
Richard Fields has contributed to the University of Rochester Medical Center for the purpose of financing research efforts for FSHD (facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy).
FSHD is a genetic, degenerative disease that primarily affects voluntary muscle movement. The disease is inherited from either the mother or father, though it can manifest in patients without documented family history. FSHD causes the skeletal muscles around the eyes, mouth, shoulders, and upper arms to weaken and waste away. The onset of the disease typically occurs in the early twenties and progresses slowly, sometimes for decades, with periods of rapid deterioration. After the initial stages, FSHS can spread to affect the abdominal muscles and sometimes hip muscles. Although FSHD is not fatal, it effects physical appearance and aggressively limits mobility; up to 15% of affected individuals become severely disabled, eventually requiring a wheelchair.
In 2007, Richard Fields donated $7.1 million to the University of Rochester Medical Center for the formation of The Fields Center for FSHD and Neuromuscular Research. The Fields Center is the first international collaboration funded to conduct aggressive and innovative clinical and genetic research for FSHD. The Fields Center unites the University of Rochester Medical Center’s Neuromuscular Disease Center in the United States with the Leiden University Medical Center’s Department of Human Genetics in the Netherlands.
Read the full Press Release covering Richard Field’s gift to research for muscular dystrophy.