This year marks 10 incredible years of Achieving Cures Together - a decade of hope, progress in microbiota research and patient treatments. As we celebrate this milestone and launch into our next decade, we’re not slowing down. Join us in honoring our accomplishments and fueling our future as we advocate for and support microbiota transplant therapy for C. difficile patients and continue expanding microbiota research.Support ACT
Saturday, June 14th 9:30am-2:30pm
There's still room to join ACT for a friendly pickleball competition this weekend while supporting life-saving microbiota transplant therapy treatments and research. Players of all levels are welcome! ACT’s pickleball tournament will be hosted at the Wolfe Park Pickleball courts in St. Louis Park, Minnesota and surrounded by the City of St. Louis Park’s Parktacular event. Enjoy food trucks and the festival activities when you’re not on the court! Ticket pricing is $30 for each team of two players. Register today at: https://onecau.se/2025pickleballPickleball Registration
Thursday, June 26th at 6:00pm CT
Join Achieving Cures Together for an informative webinar on the role of microbiota transplant therapy in Autism research. Hear from leading experts at Arizona State University, Dr. James Adams and Dr. Rosa Krajmalnik-Brown as they share the latest developments in Autism research and answer guest questions. The webinar will highlight:
Friday, September 12, 2025
Join Achieving Cures Together for our 10-year anniversary celebration at our annual Growing Hope Fundraiser event. Hosted at the scenic Winery at Sovereign Estates, enjoy an unforgettable evening with award winning wine, gourmet cuisine, live entertainment and inspiring community – all in support of life-saving microbiota treatments and research. Meet the experts behind ACT’s research and explore the newest developments in microbiota therapy. Please mark your calendars and look for a formal invitation coming soon! Corporate sponsorship and event volunteer opportunities are available. Reach out to info@achievingcures.com for more details.
Sunday, October 5, 2025
Ready to make every mile matter? ACT is a charity partner of the Twin Cities Marathon and has openings on our marathon and 10-mile race teams. Turn your running strides into impact by joining our team of runners. Runners enjoy an exclusive ACT race team shirt, access to fundraising tools and support – with no minimum requirements and race-day encouragement on the course! Learn more and join our team at: www.achievingcures.com/2025tcmarathonTwin Cities Marathon Registration
Thank you to all the incredible runners who represented ACT and the Run for Nana team at the Colfax Marathon in May! Your dedication, energy and commitment to saving lives made a powerful impact. Every mile you ran helped raise awareness and vital support for ACT’s mission.
Director of the University of Minnesota Microbiota Therapeutics Program
Achieving Cures Together in partnership with the University of Minnesota Microbiota Therapeutics Program can take pride in being one of the leading engines in the world that is saving lives and drives the development of new therapies by targeting the gut microbiome. However, many challenges remain – scientific and regulatory.
Regulatory Policy. The idea of fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) developed in response to the challenge posed by C. difficile infections, which affect 500,000 people every year in the US alone. While antibiotics make patients vulnerable to C. difficile, antibiotics are also used to treat it, which only increases the risk of C. difficile coming back. Unlike antibiotics, FMT restores the gut microbiome and has proven to be the most effective treatment for recurrent C. difficile infections.
Between 2022 and 2024, we have partnered with OpenBiome, a non-profit based in Boston, to provide standardized FMT products manufactured at the University of Minnesota to clinical providers across the US. OpenBiome has helped more than 6,000 patients suffering with C. difficile infections during our partnership with no serious adverse events!
Unfortunately, the drug companies lobbied the FDA to shut down OpenBiome in favor of their own FMT-based products. The FDA complied even though their decision left pediatric patients and patients suffering with acute, life-threatening forms of C. difficile without any approved options. All major medical professional organizations in gastroenterology and infectious disease along with individual providers, patients, and patient advocacy groups appealed to the FDA to no avail. However, in May of 2025, the FDA leadership has changed. There is now some hope that the new leadership could be open to more nimble regulatory policies that will prioritize patient care.
Our Current Research Priorities. It is now known that the activity of the gut microbiome plays a role in supporting health and driving multiple diseases. However, unlike recurrent C. difficile, where the gut microbiome is simply decimated by antibiotics and a single dose of FMT is sufficient to achieve a cure in most cases, mere ‘repair’ is not sufficient in most other diseases. Rather, the goal is to restructure the gut microbiome to impart functions that could protect against specific diseases. The following are some highlights from our recent work:
ACT is looking for a part-time Marketing and Development Coordinator to help grow our mission! Reach out to us at info@achievingcures.com for more details if you are interested or if you know someone who may be a good candidate.
