A large part of the search for better treatments and possible cures for cavernous angioma lies in our hands. Researchers bring their expertise, but those of us with cavernous angiomas provide the raw materials. We need you to become involved.

There are a number of ways that you can help research directly:

1. Please go to the Family Registry menu selection to receive information about the exciting Family Registry we will be establishing in the summer of 2005. This registry will be open to anyone who has a cavernous angioma regardless of whether or not they have the hereditary form. We will be gathering comprehensive, anonymous information about individuals affected by cavernous angioma that will help researchers understand individual variation in the illness. An understanding of what factors cause one person to have a more active form of the illness than another will guide researchers in the search for better treatments.

2. If you have the genetic form of the illness, there are a number of studies that would benefit greatly from a blood sample from you and, possibly, your family members. Please go down to the Studies Seeking Participants menu to find labs in the US and internationally that are performing genetic studies with the hope of achieving a better understanding of how cavernous angiomas form and behave.

3. If you are anticipating having surgery, please go to the Tissue Donation menu for information on donating your needed cavernous angioma tissue to a laboratory. It is the examination of cavernous angioma tissue itself that will unlock many of the secrets of the illness.