We are excited to announce the Cerebral Palsy Research Network (CPRN) has merged with CP NOW, a nonprofit organization for parents and caregivers based in Greenville, South Carolina. 

Merging CPRN and CP NOW is a natural extension of the longstanding strategic partnership between the two organizations. Previously, CP NOW President and Founder Michele Shusterman has worked as the director of community engagement for CPRN. In turn, CPRN Founder Paul Gross has served as a business advisor to CP NOW. 

Over the last five years, our organizations have collaborated on setting a patient-centered research agenda for cerebral palsy called Research CP, launching the MyCP platform and funding new research to address priorities from the Research CP agenda.  The new organization will conduct its nonprofit business under the name the “Cerebral Palsy Research Network” or “CP Research Network” for short. 

“It is exciting to plan the synergies of merging our two organizations,” said Gross.  “CP NOW has deep connections in the CP community and has produced award-winning education information for families.” 

The CP Research Network will benefit from the combination of community relationships with a large network of hospitals and clinicians engaged in advancing health outcomes for people with CP.

Logistically, Gross will lead the new organization as President and Chief Executive Officer and Shusterman will continue as a director on the board while advancing the education and wellbeing programs.  Jacob Kean, PhD, an associate professor at the University of Utah, will continue to lead the network’s data center and cerebral palsy registry efforts and join the board of directors.

The CP Research Network’s digital platform, cprn.org, will include the blog CP Daily Living, CP NOW’s award-winning CP Toolkit and Wellness Guide, and MyCP, a web property for the CPRN Community Registry and Forum. This digital resource will provide a single place for the CP community and clinician researchers to come together to advance health outcomes for people with CP and facilitate deeper community stakeholder engagement in research.

Many of these changes will be rolled out incrementally over the coming weeks, starting with some of our social media platforms.  Our website, which brings together all of the information from our four web properties, will be the keystone supporting our mission.

We hope you will join us in celebrating this pivotal moment for our two organizations. Together, as one entity, we will add a strong community voice to our research, educational, and wellbeing efforts.