DEERFIELD, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy (CURE) and Lundbeck today announced the launch of the CURE Education Enrichment Fund Scholarship Program, which is a one-time scholarship (up to $5,000) for people who are living with epilepsy, family members and caregivers. These scholarships will help advance the recipients’ personal knowledge in research, health education, advocacy and/or awareness as it relates to their experiences with epilepsy.

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“We have met so many amazing people in the epilepsy community who have a strong desire to make a difference in the lives of others who are struggling with this condition, and just need a little extra support to help make their ambitions a reality,” said Lorena Di Carlo, Vice President & General Manager, Neurology, at Lundbeck. “The Education Enrichment Fund will give people that much-needed support. This program expands upon Lundbeck’s long-standing commitment to the epilepsy community and dedication to empowering people who are living with epilepsy and their caregivers.”

“The Education Enrichment Fund was partly inspired by CURE’s associate research director, Dr. Tracy Dixon Salazar, a stay-at-home mom determined to help her daughter who had been diagnosed with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, a severe form of epilepsy,” said Robin Harding, Chief Executive Officer of CURE. “She began reading journal articles about the disease, studying biology, and soon returned to school, spending the next 15 years furthering her education. Dr. Salazar, now a Ph.D. in neuroscience and an epilepsy genetics researcher, has turned this passion into her life’s work, applying her knowledge to care for her daughter and empowering the epilepsy community through CURE. Hers is just one story of the power of knowledge and we are so thankful to Lundbeck for sponsoring this new program. We look forward to seeing the impact on patients’ lives that will come of it.”

CURE awarded three scholarships through the Education Enrichment Fund pilot program earlier this year. While all applicants had truly inspirational stories and compelling reasons for wanting to further their education, three applications really stood out:

• A mother who struggled with not knowing the answer to her child’s epilepsy, but never gave up. After finally identifying a genetic cause, she helped form a non-profit foundation that provides support to other families who have had this same diagnosis. She plans to use her scholarship to learn how to effectively write grants and raise funds for research, while also learning best practices to advocate in the healthcare and political arenas.
• A sister who watched her little brother battle seizures daily and struggled to find a way to help him improve his quality of life. She realized that as a sibling of someone whose seizures dictated his entire life, it seemed appropriate that she devote hers to helping children, like her brother, who have been living with severe disabilities. She will be using her scholarship toward her recent acceptance into a nationally ranked Masters of Education program, where she will focus on educating children with severe disabilities.
• A young woman who developed epilepsy later in life, and fought the misconceptions and discrimination that surrounds people living with epilepsy every day. She is currently pursuing her Master’s in Public Health where she plans to use her scholarship to help her effectively advocate for her community and create policies to help improve the quality of life of people, just like her, who struggle with epilepsy and other chronic conditions.

CURE is now accepting applications for the Education Enrichment Fund. The deadline to submit applications is April 15, 2017. To learn more about the scholarship program and to apply, visit www.CUREepilepsy.org.

About Lundbeck

Lundbeck is a global pharmaceutical company specialized in psychiatric and neurological disorders. For more than 70 years, we have been at the forefront of research within neuroscience. Our key areas of research focus are depression, schizophrenia, Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease.

An estimated 700 million people worldwide are living with psychiatric and neurological disorders and far too many suffer due to inadequate treatment, discrimination, a reduced number of working days, early retirement and other unnecessary consequences. Every day, we strive for improved treatment and a better life for people living with psychiatric and neurological disorders — we call this Progress in Mind.

Our approximately 5,000 employees in 55 countries are engaged in the entire value chain throughout research, development, manufacturing, marketing and sales. Our pipeline consists of several late-stage development programs and our products are available in more than 100 countries. We have research centers in China and Denmark and production facilities in China, Denmark, France and Italy. Lundbeck generated core revenue of DKK 14.6 billion in 2015 (EUR 2 billion; USD 2.2 billion).

In the U.S., Lundbeck employs nearly 1,000 people focused solely on accelerating therapies for brain disorders, including epilepsy. With a special commitment to the lives of patients, families and caregivers, Lundbeck U.S. actively engages in hundreds of initiatives each year that support our patient communities.

For additional information, visit www.lundbeckus.com and connect on Twitter at @LundbeckUS.

About CURE

Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy (CURE) is the leading nongovernmental agency fully committed to funding research in epilepsy. The organization was founded by Susan Axelrod and a small group of parents of children with epilepsy who were frustrated with their inability to protect their children from seizures and the side effects of medications. Unwilling to sit back, they joined forces to spearhead the search for a cure.

Since its inception in 1998, CURE has been at the forefront of epilepsy research, raising more than $40 million to fund research and other initiatives that will lead the way to a cure for epilepsy. CURE funds grants for emerging and established investigators, and to date has awarded more than 200 cutting-edge projects in 15 countries around the world.

CURE has led a dramatic shift in the epilepsy research community from simply treating seizures to enhancing understanding of underlying mechanisms and causes, so that cures and preventative strategies can be found. CURE's research program is cutting-edge, dynamic and responsive to new scientific opportunities and directions through both investigator-initiated grants and unprecedented scientific programs and initiatives.

CURE’s mission is to cure epilepsy, transforming and saving millions of lives. We identify and fund cutting-edge research, challenging scientists worldwide to collaborate and innovate in pursuit of this goal. Our commitment is unrelenting.

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