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MPS Awareness Day Celebrations

On May 15, the National MPS Society hosted celebration events at the Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute in Oakland, California and North Carolina General Assembly Legislative Building in Raleigh, North Carolina to celebrate International MPS Awareness Day. We were joined by close to 100 friends, families and physicians at the celebrations.

The purpose of International MPS Awareness Day was to establish a sense of community for folks to meet and celebrate life and also remember those who have passed away from MPS and related diseases. Shire, along with two other corporate partners, partnered with the National MPS Society to host the events as part of the Join the Search campaign.

In addition to patients and physicians sharing their experiences and commitment to MPS disease, we also had the privilege of being joined by Dr. Kevin Ryan, Section Chief of the Women’s and Health Division for the state of North Carolina, and Dr. Fred Lorey, Acting Chief of the Genetic Disease Screening Program in California, who provided updates on newborn screening and genetic testing at the state and national level.

Everyone had a great time catching up with friends and making new ones, and the children enjoyed decorating and flying the special edition kites provided by the Society to commemorate the special day. To view more pictures from the events, visit the International MPS Awareness Day site. If you have photos of your own MPS Day celebration, please email them to Laurie Turner of the National MPS Society.