Audrey Gordon

Background

About Audrey Gordon

Progeria is an ultra-rare, fatal, “rapid-aging” disease. Without treatment, all children with Progeria will die of heart disease at an average age of 14.5 years. Audrey co-founded The Progeria Research Foundation in with an original mission to discover the cause, treatments and the cure for Progeria and its aging-related disorders, including heart disease. In 2003, the PRF Genetics Consortium discovered the Progeria gene, a collaboration led by Dr. Francis Collins, previously the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Today, PRF continues to be the only organization in the world solely dedicated to finding treatments and the cure for Progeria. The organization fills a void, taking these children out of the background where they had been for more than 100 years and putting them and Progeria at the forefront of scientific efforts. In her role as President and Executive Director at PRF, Audrey works closely with the Board of Directors, relevant Board committees, and program staff on setting and implementing PRF’s long-term fundraising plan to increase the organization’s visibility and generate a diversified, increased and sustainable income. In 2014 she received the Research America's Paul G. Rogers Distinguished Organization Advocacy Award for bringing Progeria from obscurity to the forefront of successful translational research.