{"id":403120,"date":"2026-09-18T01:58:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-18T01:58:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/403120\/"},"modified":"2026-09-18T01:58:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T01:58:09","slug":"together-for-a-cure-luncheon-raises-awareness-money-to-help-people-with-multiple-sclerosis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/403120\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Together for a Cure\u2019 luncheon raises awareness, money to help people with multiple sclerosis"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"text | article-text\">TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) &#8211; Hundreds gathered in Tallahassee on Thursday for the \u201cTogether for a Cure\u201d luncheon. <\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">It raises awareness and money to help those battling multiple sclerosis. <\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Over the years, it\u2019s brought in more than a million dollars to fund research and provide services to people with MS. <\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">One of the speakers at Thursday\u2019s luncheon was Robinee Phillips, whose mother has MS. <\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">She shared how watching her mom navigate its challenges has fueled her determination to become a pediatric neurologist. <\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cIt makes me so grateful because with such a harrowing disease and with it being so unpredictable, I don\u2019t really know what each day is going to bring for her, but watching her live such a full and active life is just a blessing,\u201d Phillips said. <\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"figure-img img-fluid mx-auto d-block\" fetchpriority=\"low\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Robinee Phillips and her mother, Joya, have traveled to the U.S. Capitol to advocate for MS...\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/44RFHX5EZ5GEDN53P25RGJNNWI.JPG\" width=\"980\" height=\"735\" \/>Robinee Phillips and her mother, Joya, have traveled to the U.S. Capitol to advocate for MS patients.(Julie Montanaro\/WCTV)<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Phillips has joined her mother, Joya, at both Florida\u2019s Capitol and the U.S. Capitol to advocate for more funding for research and increased access to care.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cResearch matters and access matters and more people than you think are affected by this disease,\u201d Phillips said. \u201cI urge lawmakers to make health care more accessible and make these medications more affordable for these people because they\u2019re life altering.\u201d <\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Thursday\u2019s honoree, Dr. Gerry Maitland, is a neurologist and professor at the FSU College of Medicine. He\u2019s treated more than 100,000 patients, including many with MS. <\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"figure-img img-fluid mx-auto d-block\" fetchpriority=\"low\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Dr. Gerry Maitland - a neurologist and professor at FSU's College of Medicine - was honored...\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/GXDDDSLZWRC6VFBE3NFZRH6RPU.png\" width=\"980\" height=\"551\" \/>Dr. Gerry Maitland &#8211; a neurologist and professor at FSU&#8217;s College of Medicine &#8211; was honored for making a lasting impact in the lives of MS patients.(Julie Montanaro\/WCTV)<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cIt never fails to impress me how diligent patients and their families and friends are in dealing with this condition, which I hate,\u201d Maitland said. \u201cI hate MS more than I probably hate any other disease.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Maitland told the crowd he expects big steps forward in both diagnosing and treating MS in the next five years. <\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Maitland also said his team at FSU is preparing to launch two new Multiple Sclerosis studies this fall, one focused on cognitive identification issues and the other evaluating a drug that could lessen fatigue for MS patients. <\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">To keep up with the latest news as it develops, follow WCTV on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/WCTV.tv\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Facebook<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/wctvnews\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Instagram<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@WCTVEyewitnessNews\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">YouTube<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/nextdoor.com\/page\/wctv\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/nextdoor.com\/page\/wctv\/\" target=\"_blank\">Nextdoor<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/nextdoor.com\/page\/wctv\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/nextdoor.com\/page\/wctv\/\" target=\"_blank\"> <\/a>and <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WCTV\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">X<\/a> (<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WCTV\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Twitter<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Have a news tip or see an error? <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wctv.tv\/2026\/09\/18\/together-cure-luncheon-raises-awareness-money-help-people-with-multiple-sclerosis\/mailto:news@wctv.tv?subject=Correction%20Needed\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Write to us here<\/a>. Please include the article\u2019s headline in your message.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Be the first to see all the biggest headlines by downloading the WCTV News app. Click <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wctv.tv\/2024\/12\/18\/download-free-wctv-mobile-streaming-apps-today\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a> to get started.<\/p>\n<p>Copyright 2026 WCTV. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) &#8211; Hundreds gathered in Tallahassee on Thursday for the \u201cTogether for a Cure\u201d luncheon. It&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":403121,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[70978,30449,86941,232,234,233,160346],"class_list":["post-403120","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tallahassee","tag-luncheon","tag-ms","tag-multiple-sclerosis","tag-tallahassee","tag-tallahassee-headlines","tag-tallahassee-news","tag-together-for-a-cure"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403120","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=403120"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403120\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/403121"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=403120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=403120"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=403120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}