The Bernie Mac Foundation
The Bernie Mac Foundation is dedicated to building a worldwide community of healthcare professionals, patients and concerned care givers working together to promote scientific research and education for our future.
We are dedicated to a more thorough understanding of Sarcoidosis the disease, its impact on patients’ lives and current opinion regarding treatment. This international community of thought leaders, healthcare providers (researchers and clinicians) and patients will raise funds to support research and create education-based opportunities for patients and their families.
Started in 2007 and headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, the Foundation is chaired by Rhonda R. McCullough with Je’Niece N. Childress, Director and led by Patricia S. Mikes, M.D. Executive Medical Director and Ms. Jaye A. Mikes as Executive Director.
For Professionals
Upcoming Events
2008 BMF Thought Leadership Conference
The leading edge of what is happening in sarcoid, this conference will become the standard of what we can expect from the Bernie Mac Foundation.
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Ongoing Research
Find Patients to Participate in cutting edge research.
More to Come!
Upcoming non-BMF events
Chest 2008
American College of Chest Physicians 2008
Philadelphia, PA October 25-30, 2008
Link to Chest 2008 >
Our Partners
American College of Chest Physicians
American Thoracic Society
Cleveland Clinic Center of Excellence
For Patients
Upcoming Events
Take it on the Road
Our take it on the road events are designed to create a local meeting place and build a support network.
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Upcoming Take it on the Road Events
2008 Chicago, IL
2008 Cleveland, OH
TBD Philadelphia, PA
TBD New Orleans, LA
TBD Los Angeles, CA
What Is Sarcoidosis?
Following exposure to some still unidentified trigger(s), a patient’s immune system is “turned on” in a way that creates a particular pattern of inflammation. The inflammation can affect any organ in the body, but the lungs and skin are the most common. If the inflammation is allowed to continue, the end result will be scarring of the tissue. The goal of treatment is to interrupt the inflammation so that a damaging scar does not form. Scar formation is more important in certain organs – such as the lungs, eyes, heart and brain/brain coverings/nerves – disease involving these organs would be treated with anti-inflammatory medications. Joint and muscle discomfort would also be addressed with anti-inflammatory medications. Skin involvement is more unsightly than dangerous but also can be treated; many times very effectively, by injecting medication directly into the skin lesion.
Sarcoidosis is a disease which, despite many years of research, still has no known specific cause. Sarcoidosis is not a cancer and is not a contagious disease. In some cases it seems to run in families. Medical textbooks twenty years ago listed the disease as being primarily one of African American women and patients of Scandinavian descent. We now know that, although Sarcoid seems to be more prevalent in these populations, and there may be a genetic predisposition in these populations, the disease is by no means limited to these groups. More and more Caucasian men and women (of eastern European and Scandinavian descent), Puerto Rican patients, and African American men are being diagnosed with the disease.