The Laura Fund: Accelerating Breakthroughs in MS Research
What was born from a family’s resolve to confront a significant multiple sclerosis diagnosis has grown into a global movement to accelerate a cure. Established in 2003 by Dan and Bonnie Wieden after their daughter Laura’s diagnosis, the Fund was created at Oregon Health & Science University to fuel daring ideas within an academic medical center setting, free from the cautious pace of traditional grants.
Today, under Laura Wieden’s leadership, The Laura Fund is expanding its reach worldwide. What began as a dedicated fund supporting high-risk, high-reward projects in one institution has evolved into a global accelerator, uncovering and advancing urgent research initiatives wherever they arise.
Why The Laura Fund?
Urgency: To find a cure, we must move at the speed of science, not the speed of bureaucracy. We aim to raise vital capital to bridge the growing gap created by cuts in federal government research funding, ensuring that promising science does not stall.
Bold Ideas: We intentionally seek out and fund the bold, high-risk projects that larger organizations often reject, creating an essential pipeline for transformative breakthroughs.
Agile and Responsive: Our streamlined grant process is designed to move quickly, getting resources to researchers when they need them most.
Catalyst Investment. We target high-impact "missing pieces" in research (e.g., specialized equipment, a key experiment) where a relatively small amount of funding ($25K - $100K) can unlock years of progress.
Global Reach with Local Roots: While deeply rooted at OHSU, we now identify and empower innovative MS researchers worldwide.
Our Current Focus Areas
Women’s Health in MS: Investigating the profound effects of menopause and aging on women with MS.
Building a Diverse Scientific Future: Opening doors for underrepresented students to work alongside leading MS researchers, ensuring the next generation reflects the communities most impacted.
Converging Breakthroughs: Funding projects that cross disease boundaries—bringing MS researchers together with experts in Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, ALS, and beyond to uncover shared pathways and accelerate cures.
Innovative Collaboration Speeds Project Vetting
Through an innovative collaboration, the National MS Society lends its infrastructure for rigorous scientific review and grant oversight, ensuring we fund sound, daring innovations. For all other projects, we rely on the expert vetting of Dr. Dennis Bourdette and his team of colleagues. This powerful partnership allows our nimble approach to speed resources to where they’re needed most.
As we raise more funds, we will actively expand collaborations to address the critical shortfall in research funding, partnering with entities and scientists worldwide who share both our goals and our unwavering sense of urgency.
Steadfast Partners Sustain Decades of Progress
The Laura Fund has been championing bold research initiatives for nearly three decades.
As we expand beyond the walls of OHSU to hasten progress in this space, the partners who have been with us from the beginning remain committed to supporting this vital work.
In addition to the endowment that will remain at OHSU under the direction of Dr. Dennis Bourdette to fund research happening within the university medical setting, our partners at Oregon Community Foundation and the Wieden Family Public Trust have committed to leadership gifts to accelerate the reach of our new global nonprofit. This steadfast support will enable this new phase of The Laura Fund to reach new heights, and it is a testament to the power of our Mission and the personal commitment of Laura Wieden and the Wieden Family.
We remain grateful for our partners who already are investing to help The Laura Fund speed bold research toward a cure.
Proven Track Record
The Laura Fund has already funded out-of-the-box research initiatives that have helped researchers go on to expand their studies toward unlocking cures. Here are a few examples of the many projects made possible by investments from The Laura Fund.
Our grants have immediate impact. For example, a $50,000 grant for advanced imaging tools shortened a critical MS study by 18 months.
By de-risking bold ideas, we create a pipeline of promising research that attracts larger, follow-on investments from major institutions, leveraging private funding to counteract public cuts.
Bottom Line
Our approach is simple but radical: empower brilliant minds with timely funding, take smart risks others won’t, and relentlessly pursue breakthroughs until a cure is found. Every day matters for the millions living with MS. That urgency drives everything we do.
The Laura Fund fuels bold, high-risk research to fast-track a cure for MS. A global accelerator, funding daring scientists wherever their work can accelerate progress. By advancing pillars in women’s health, diversity, and converging breakthroughs, we are creating the discoveries that traditional funding leaves behind. Because MS won’t wait, and neither will we.