• We Welcome Donations

    Through financial contributions and volunteering.

    You can donate using any of the donation boxes on our website or, contact us at [email protected] to learn more about how you can become involved. We thank you for helping us make a difference.

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Zebra News

  • The People Behind The Disease

    Very grateful to GeneFo – A Social Medical Platform for asking to interview Life as a Zebra Foundation for the The Huffington Post. Please read and share:
    The People Behind The Disease

  • UTMC Partnership Research Project Update

    August 2016 Update from Dr. Kenneth Hensley:
    I have been working with one of Dr. Grubb’s student residents Dr. Ruzieh Mohammed to teach him the immunoglobulin pull-down assay in my lab. We have performed some technical variations to determine how the assay might be modified. Our hope is to continue to try to identify novel [...]

  • AmazonSmile

    Did you know that you can benefit the Life as a Zebra Foundation every single time you shop at Amazon.com? Amazon will donates 0.5% of the price of your eligible purchases to the charitable organization of your choice. To learn more about how you can support the Life as a Zebra Foundation every time you [...]

Life As A Zebra Foundation

In medical school, students are taught to diagnose patients based on the condition that’s most likely. This idea goes along with the saying: “When you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras.” The horses are the likely explanation, while the zebras are less likely. A medical zebra, then, is a person with a rare medical condition.

Life as a Zebra Foundation’s Mission

The primary purpose of the Life as a Zebra Foundation is to receive and administer funds for the purpose of education and charitable contributions for education, prevention, treatment, and research of various rare, invisible illnesses including, but not limited to, Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, Dysautonomia, and Vasculitis.

Dysautonomia

Dysautonomia literally means dysregulation of the autonomic nervous system. The autonomic nervous system is the master regulator of organ function throughout the body. It is involved in the control of heart rate, blood pressure, temperature, respiration, digestion and other vital functions.

Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome

Individuals with EDS have a defect in their connective tissue, the tissue that provides support to many body parts such as the skin, muscles and ligaments. The fragile skin and unstable joints found in EDS are the result of faulty collagen.

Vasculitis

Vasculitis is a family of rare and chronic autoimmune diseases, all characterized by the inflammation of blood vessels. There are more than 15 different vasculitis diseases, all of which can affect people of various ages, races, and genders.