Reports show nearly one million people in the United States have multiple sclerosis (MS). For those unfamiliar, the disease affects the central nervous system. It can also be difficult to diagnose. Daniel Ontaneda, MD, PhD, neurologist with Cleveland Clinic is hoping to change that.

A retired warden is traveling to the state to raise money for MS research, and Allen Oakwood Correctional Institute inmates are helping him one step at a time. Tony Brigano has been retired for over 20 years after working 30 years at various places in the Ohio prison system. But when he wanted to raise money for the National MS Society in honor of his daughter Michelle, who has multiple sclerosis, he went back to the prisons to ask the inmates to join "Team Michelle."

August 16, 2024, Press Release from the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation & Correction: (Columbus, OH)- Over a dozen of Ohio’s prisons have hosted fundraising walks to raise money for a cure for Multiple Sclerosis (MS), all organized by Tony Brigano, a retired Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (ODRC) warden. Brigano, who retired as the warden at Lebanon Correctional Institution in 2003, started Walk MS in Ohio’s prisons seven years ago. The proceeds go to the National MS Society, a 501C 3 nonprofit. His daughter, Michelle, has MS and is the driving force behind his walks. Brigano and his team walk to raise money for research in hopes of finding a cure for the auto-immune disease.

Paralysis, multiple sclerosis, and ALS. These conditions impact millions of lives with little hope for improvement. But that may not always be the case. Barb Consiglio has the details on scientific breakthroughs that may one day make these conditions treatable and bring hope for recovery to those diagnosed with a wide range of currently incurable diseases and injuries.

There are more than 20 thousand Ohioans who have to deal with the daily challenges of being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.