Questcor is strongly committed to partnering with advocacy organizations in the infantile spasms community.
Questcor's continuing support of the infantile spasms community and the field of child neurology was recognized in 2012 as the company was named the recipient of the Child Neurology Foundation's first-ever Corporate Citizenship Award.
Questcor recognized with Corporate Citizenship Award
The Child Neurology Foundation recognized Questcor's efforts to support the infantile spasms community and child neurology.
Award Letter From CNF
"Questcor has shown outstanding corporate responsibility and leadership, demonstrating how industry can be full partners with physicians, scientists, and parents," said Lawrence W. Brown, MD, Associate Professor of Neurology and Pediatrics at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and President of the Child Neurology Foundation. "The Child Neurology Foundation is pleased to recognize Questcor's comprehensive scope and extraordinary efforts toward this goal with the first CNF Corporate Citizenship Award.
Questcor was recognized with the Child Neurology Foundation’s first-ever Corporate Citizenship Award.
 Steve Cartt, Chief Operating Officer at Questcor, with CNF Board members following the company’s Corporate Citizenship Award presentation. |
Here is an overview of our initiatives in the IS community:
Questcor is the sole and exclusive sponsor of Infantile Spasms Awareness Week that was launched in 2009 in partnership with the Child Neurology Foundation (CNF). Our sponsorship allowed the CNF to develop a website, www.infantilespasmsinfo.org, an educational IS brochure and a DVD that it makes available to physicians and parents. These educational initiatives were developed to help build further awareness about infantile spasms, including the need for rapid diagnosis and aggressive treatment.
As part of IS Awareness Week, we have also partnered with the CNF to launch the IS Heroes Award. This award recognizes a deserving child neurologist and medical institution, nominated by a parent, for making a positive difference in the life of a child with IS. The program is designed as another way to draw attention to IS and recognize the important contributions made by child neurologists in the care of these infants.
In 2011, Dr. Harry Chugani, division chief of pediatric neurology at Children's Hospital of Michigan, was named the recipient of the IS Hero Award after being nominated by several parents.
 Dr. Harry Chugani is shown here after receiving the 2011 IS Hero Award at the CNS annual meeting. Also with Dr. Chugani is Emily Kather, one of the IS parents who nominated Dr. Chugani for this recognition. Representing the Child Neurology Foundation (CNF) in the presentation of the award was Lawrence W. Brown, MD, president of CNF and John Stone, the organization's executive director. | "We know that we don't always make the children better, but still, the parents know that we have tried, particularly if we make ourselves easily available to them and they know we are there for them. I'd like to thank the Child Neurology Foundation for all of their efforts to increase awareness and understanding of infantile spasms. I'd also like to thank Questcor Pharmaceuticals for the company's support for these initiatives and for their support of research into the underlying causes of IS." |
Questcor is funding basic science research to investigate the disease processes involved with infantile spasms and to better understand the mechanisms of action of Acthar. We also partner with the CNF to fund an annual grant to support research into infantile spasms.
In 2011, for the second straight year, CNF awarded by Catherine Chu-Shore, MD, of Massachusetts General Hospital with the IS Research Award. Dr. Chu-Shore is investigating the "functional network connectivity" in infantile spasms.
 Dr. Catherine Chu-Shore, 2010 and 2011 IS Research Grant recipient, is shown here at the 2011 CNS annual meeting with Lawrence W. Brown, MD, president of the Child Neurology Foundation (CNF), and John Stone, executive director of the CNF. | "Ultimately, we hope to better understand and explain the important relationship between epilepsy and brain development in these children. I am very grateful to the Child Neurology Foundation and Questcor Pharmaceuticals for their support of my research." |
"Research into orphan disorders like infantile spasms often suffers from a lack of funding," said Lawrence W. Brown, MD, Associate Professor of Neurology and Pediatrics at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and President of the Child Neurology Foundation. "That is why we are pleased to partner with Questcor Pharmaceuticals. They have made a multi-year commitment to fund basic research into the causes and consequences of infantile spasms. Our hope is that better understanding of the underlying pathophysiology will lead to new and even more effective treatments for this very rare but devastating form of childhood epilepsy."
We also support the Swaiman Medical Scholarship Program. This mentoring program provides up to 10 summer clinical research scholarships for first- and second-year U.S. and Canadian medical students who have an interest in child neurology.
In 2012, Questcor also pledged a major, long-term commitment to fund the Phillip R. Dodge Young Investigator Award with the Child Neurology Society. We committed $250,000 over the next 10 years to fund the next generation of researchers in child neurology.
In 2011, we helped an IS parent, Emily Kather, fulfill her dream of launching a website (www.faceis.org) to help connect other IS parents with each other.
Questcor also supports the efforts of the Epilepsy Foundation (www.epilepsyfoundation.org), the Epilepsy Therapy Project (www.epilepsy.com), the Tuberous Sclerosis Alliance (www.tsalliance.org), CURE: Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy (www.cureepilepsy.org) and the Intractable Childhood Epilepsy Alliance (www.ice-epilepsy.org). Our support is focused on increasing understanding and awareness of infantile spasms.
