Martha Crowninshield: Her goal: Put MS out of business
"Martha Crowninshield brokered high-stakes business deals all the time as a venture capitalist. But never before had she been involved in a deal with a payoff that could help millions of people worldwide. Crowninshield is a major player in a landmark effort to search the human genome for genes that put people at risk for multiple sclerosis.

Crowninshield, a former partner at the investment firm Boston Ventures, is banking on the project. She, like an estimated 2.5 million people worldwide, has MS,

She believes the team effort, which involves scientists from all over the world, eventually will lead to improved treatments and maybe something better. In 2002, Crowninshield learned about the International Multiple Sclerosis Genetics Consortium. After researching the project, she put $1 million of her own money into the project. "I wanted to be able to say I believe in this," she says. She also helped the scientists involved put together a business plan, which was crucial in selling the project to private investors as well as the National Institutes of Health and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

So far, the team has raised $15 million — just $5 million short of the money required for a massive five-year gene hunt for MS..."