People always want to know where their dollars go and the efficiency of your donations. The National MS Society holds a 4-out-of-4 star rating from Charity Navigator — a watchdog whose score leans heavily on financial efficiency (how much of each dollar reaches focus areas) alongside accountability and transparency. Every usable dollar in the Smilin’ Phil Will Kill MS fund goes toward three cures:
Cure #1, prevention: Researchers have zeroed in on the Epstein-Barr virus as very likely the trigger that sets MS in motion for almost everyone who develops it. That’s a big deal, because a trigger you can identify is a trigger you can potentially block — and there’s real vaccine research now underway aimed at stopping MS before it starts.
Cure #2, stopping progression: Treatment is finally moving past “one drug fits all.” New blood-based biomarkers can now flag the kind of hidden, smoldering inflammation that drives long-term disability, and a newer class of drugs (BTK inhibitors) is being tested specifically for the patients that biomarker identifies — including the progressive forms of MS that are the hardest to treat.
Cure #3, repair: This is the newest frontier, and it’s the one that could someday hand people back functions they’ve already lost. I was part of an 18-month clinical trial for a drug aimed at myelin (nerve sheath) repair. Loss of myelin is the most significant cause of MS disabilities. My trial wasn’t successful, but I see there are other treatments in the pipeline. More dollars will make it go faster.
On October 1, 2026, the Society held “Big Bets for Breakthroughs,” a research symposium celebrating its 80th anniversary and launching the $1 billion Campaign to End MS. Leading scientists, clinicians, people living with MS and donors spent the day on four big topics: using technology, including AI, to diagnose MS earlier; precision medicine that can predict how someone’s disease will progress and tailor treatment to them; living well with MS; and turning lab discoveries into new treatments faster. The message I came home with: ending MS is within reach. For the first time, the MS community can see a path toward ending this disease.
One theme from the symposium stuck with me: breakthroughs matter only when they reach people. That’s exactly what your donations do. They move discoveries out of the lab and into the lives of people like me.
Read the National MS Society’s announcement: Ending MS Is Within Reach
Ready to help? Donate to the Smilin’ Phil Will Kill MS fund