Fall – Winter 2009 Dear Friends of the Michael Fund, You are about to read one of the most important letters the Michael Fund has sent out in its more than thirty years of service to the Pro-Life Community. Please give it your utmost attention as it contains important information related to the future of the Michael Fund/IFGR.  From its incorporation in the fall of 1978 until April of 1994, the Michael Fund was proud to have as its Director of Medical Research, the world famous pro-life geneticist Dr. Jerome Lejeune of the University of Paris. Dr. Lejeune’s research program included clinical testing of various experimental therapies on newborns, children, and young adults born with Down syndrome. After Dr. Lejeune’s death and the unfortunate dissolution of his research program at the University of Paris, the Michael Fund’s Board of Directors voted to transfer our research program to the United States. We were fortunate to have the assistance of one of Dr. Lejeune’s closest assistants, Dr. Marie Peeters-Ney, to assist us in the restructuring of our new research program.  In the fall of 1996, the Michael Fund awarded its first U.S.-based research grant of $165,000 to Dr. Paddy Jim Baggot, a pro-life geneticist and obstetrician. Over the last thirteen years, the love affair between the Michael Fund and Dr. Baggot has blossomed into a marriage made in heaven. Dr. Baggot’s therapeutic research findings have been published in the prestigious journal Fetal Diagnosis and Therapy and he has become one of the country’s leading authorities on Down syndrome. This coming January, Dr. Baggot will begin the development of research protocols necessary for the start of clinical trials designed to create new modes of therapy for fetuses, newborns, and children including those with Down syndrome and related anomalies. These clinical trials represent a major step forward for the Michael Fund and bring to fruition, at least in part, the dream of Dr. Lejeune to find new avenues of true therapy in the field of Down syndrome. According to Dr. baggot, the costs for Phase I of the project involving the development of research protocols will be $50,000. The expected total price tag for the clinical trials which are expected to take between five and ten years is three million dollars. It is hoped that these trials  will benefit not only children with Down syndrome, but children with other neurological and developmental disorders, and indeed normal children, as well.  If we are successful in our quest, there will be less motivation for mothers to pursue the deadly path of “selective abortion” of their affected unborn children. True therapy and treatment will replace the “health by death” ethic that currently dominates genetics programs around the world so that every child has a chance to be as healthy, intelligent and happy as possible. Can we count on your continued financial support? Would you consider pledging a monthly donation to help fund the clinical trials? Please let us know your thoughts on this matter, and please be as generous as you can during our annual financial appeal.  The Michael Fund, for its part, is working on streamlining its operational expenses so as to channel as much of your donations into the clinical trials as possible. We know we can save about $2,500 a year by sending our popular and informative Friends of the Michael Fund Newsletter out electronically via the Internet. Whether or not you can make a contribution at this time, please send us your e-mail address so that we can send you, not only our newsletter, but also updates and information on the upcoming clinical trials and on the continuing battle in defense of children with Down syndrome, born and unborn. If you do not have Internet service, can you provide the name of a relative or friend who would be willing to receive Michael Fund electronic mailings for you?  The Michael Fund is also happy to announce the creation of two new organizations and websites dedicated to the defense and support of children with Down syndrome and their families. Please visit the International Down Syndrome Coalition for Life at http://idscforlife.wordpress.com/  and Leticia Velasquez’s beautiful web site Cause of Our Joy at http://cause-of-our-joy.blogspot.com/ and tell them the Michael Fund sent you.  We thank you in advance for your charity, and for your prayers for the success of our clinical trials.   A blessed Christmas and New Year to you and your family. Sincerely , Randy Engel Director, Michael Fund/IFGR PS – Please don’t forget to send us your e-mail address.    The International Foundation for Genetic Research/Michael Fund is an independent, non-profit and non-sectarian organization incorporated in the state of Pennsylvania. All contributions are deductible from taxable income [according to the IRS code, Sec. 501 ( C ) ( 3 )].