APBD Tour de Friends Team Raises $99,000 During the 2022 Million Dollar Bike Ride at the University of Pennsylvania
July 12th, 2022
THANK YOU!
We had 104 enthusiastic and imaginative virtual riders on the APBD Tour de Friends team this year! This was our largest group yet who joined us for the sixth consecutive year at the 2022 Million Dollar Bike Ride (MDBR) hosted by the University of Pennsylvania’s MDBR program for rare disease research.
In addition, for the first-time ever, Beth Katz sported our unique Helmet of Honor on behalf of the entire team. Her husband, Jeff, was diagnosed with APBD in 2015. She shared, “I have participated every year that I could. I think it’s just a great fundraiser because you can easily introduce it to your family and friends. And especially now that you can be a virtual rider, I just send a mass email. I don’t even know who signs up because of me.”
The slideshow below shows the fun we experienced but also accomplishes something very important. It shows donors, researchers, physicians, pharmaceutical leaders, and government decision makers that the APBD community is cohesive, vital, and deserving of treatments and a cure. We deeply appreciate all who work to defeat APBD.
To date, the Tour de Friends riding team has raised $99,114. Will you help us cross the $100,000 threshold for research?
News Releases
The APBD Research Foundation is delighted to announce that Lindsay Gill, PhD has been promoted to full-time Research Director.
We are thrilled to announce that our community raised an incredible $201,177 during the 2026 APBD Tour de Friends Rally for Research fundraising campaign, exceeding our original goal of $120,000.
The Academy of General Dentistry (AGD) recently awarded the APBD Research Foundation's co-president Dr. Jeff Levenson with the Lifelong Learning & Service Recognition (LLSR). He received this award along with 36 other LLSR recipients during the AGD’s scientific session in Las Vegas, NV on June 27, 2026.
In April 2026, the APBD Research Foundation announced participant recruitment for its APBDRF Drug Repurposing Study initiative in partnership with COMBINEDBrain. We are grateful to the patients and families in our community that have volunteered to provide biosamples to help make this study a reality.
The APBD Research Foundation is pleased to announce the third of our 2025 Rally for Research Pilot Grant Program grant recipients: Rebecca Koch, PhD, RDN at Duke University. Her research project is entitled, Gene Therapy to Treat the Neurophenotype of Glycogen Storage Disease Type IV.
The APBD Research Foundation is pleased to announce the second of our 2025 Rally for Research Pilot Grant Program grant recipients: Mayank Verma, MD, PhD at UTSW Medical Center. His research project is entitled Preclinical Validation and Biomarkers in APBD of a GYS1-ASO Currently in Phase 1 Clinical Trial for Lafora Disease
On behalf of the APBD community, the APBD Research Foundation has responded to the US Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) request for public comments for its recently released draft guidance for the use of the Plausible Mechanism Framework for individualized genetic therapies.
We are excited to launch the 2026 APBD Tour de Friends Rally for Research Fundraising Campaign to raise $150,000.
The APBD Research Foundation is excited to announce an opportunity for you to play a direct role in advancing treatment research. You do not have to leave home to participate.