Dr. Sandy Siegel Receives the Johns Hopkins Project RESTORE Distinguished Service Award
Douglas A. Kerr, MD/PhD

On July 21, 2006, Dr. Sandy Siegel became the first recipient of the Project RESTORE Distinguished Service Award in recognition of his service to restore hope, function and lives to patients with Transverse Myelitis.  The award was presented by Mr. Bruce Downey, CEO of Barr Pharmaceuticals and Chair of The Johns Hopkins Project RESTORE Board of Ambassadors.

Sandy Siegel has embodied the role of a true ambassador and champion for patients with Transverse Myelitis and other rare neuroimmunologic disorders.  He is the President of The Transverse Myelitis Association and his commitment, passion and spirit is truly unparalleled.  Sandy’s passion for the cause is revealed in the hundreds of emails he responds to from patients all over the world and the countless phone conversations with patients and their physicians in enabling the provision of appropriate and timely clinical care.  The Transverse Myelitis Association is a patient support group that also raises funds for research for these rare diseases, one of the very few foundations alive today with no overhead costs! Sandy has championed the cause of the TMA along with the other officers of the Board – Paula Lazzeri, Debbie Capen, Jim Lubin and Stephen Miller and today they have a membership of over 5,800 from all over the world that they reach out to with newsletters and awareness campaigns.   

The key note address of the 2nd Biennial International Rare Neuroimmunologic Disorders Symposium held in Baltimore in July 2006 was given by Bruce Downey, the Chairman of The Johns Hopkins Project RESTORE Board of Ambassadors.  In presenting Sandy the Project RESTORE Distinguished Service Award, Bruce stated that, “no one can do what Sandy does and no one deserves this award more than he does.” 

Bruce Downey is the Chairman and CEO of Barr Pharmaceuticals, Inc., one of the largest generic pharmaceutical companies in the United States. He has been with The Johns Hopkins Project RESTORE since its inception in August 2004. Project RESTORE is a multidisciplinary research and clinical collaboration emerging from The Johns Hopkins Transverse Myelitis and Multiple Sclerosis Centers.  Project RESTORE is focused on developing new diagnostic and therapeutic strategies in the treatment of neuroimmunologic disorders, such as multiple sclerosis (MS) and transverse myelitis (TM). 

Project RESTORE has three principle goals: to recover from acute attacks and illness; to stop progression of disease and disability; and to regenerate nerve cells and myelin.  No words can describe the gratitude we, as a community, have for Sandy.  Through his dedication and perseverance, and the hard work and dedication of the other TMA officers, we are confident that the goals of Project RESTORE will be achieved.