Phineas (@orangeisthenewblackandtan) has a movement disorder called cerebellar hypoplasia, but that doesn't stop him from loving life! Did you know that we adopted Phin because we're neuroscientists, and his dad Collin studies disorders affecting the cerebellum?

Collin's biggest research project is based on Christianson syndrome (CS). CS is a rare developmental and neurodegenerative disorder that causes progressive loss of coordination (like Phin, but worsening over time), epileptic seizures, and intellectual disability. Because CS is so rare, no companies are working on treatments, and this is where Lachie's Wish 4 CS comes in. Lachie's Wish 4 CS is based on Lachie, a young boy in Perth, Australia, who was diagnosed with CS after he started having seizures at just one year old. Lachie's mom Zoe and Collin teamed up to start Lachie's Wish 4 CS in honour of Lachie to drive development of a gene therapy for CS.

Several research groups have teamed up, including Collin's at University of Sydney and others in Canada, to put our minds together to develop a gene therapy that can one day help young boys with CS. This is really hard work, and while we've made great progress and proven the concept of gene therapy for CS, there's a lot of work left. All profits from this Phin shirt will go directly to Lachie's Wish 4 CS to support CS research, particularly projects aimed at therapeutic development.

Thanks for your love of Phin and supporting this incredibly important research. To learn more about Lachie and CS, please check out www.lachieswish4cs.org. And to learn even more about CS in general, check out www.csa-cares.org.