Patients, care providers and researchers gathered Saturday at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation to honor World Multiple Sclerosis Day and to celebrate resilience, creativity and community.
Hosted by the nonprofit foundation’s Multiple Sclerosis Center of Excellence, the event brought together people living with MS for an afternoon of art and connection. Guided by local artist Anthony Pego of Wine and Palette, about 20 people, primarily patients, created individual acrylic paintings of the orange monarch butterfly — a widely recognized symbol of MS awareness, hope and transformation.
“Multiple sclerosis can often feel isolating, but events like this remind our patients that they are part of a strong and caring community,” said Gabriel Pardo, M.D., a neurologist and founding director of OMRF’s MS research clinic. “The monarch butterfly represents resilience and change, and it’s inspiring to see each person interpret that symbol in their own unique way. World MS Day is about more than awareness — it’s about connection, hope and celebrating the people behind the diagnosis.”
One of Pardo’s patients, Mary Jane Thompson, has been painting on canvas, glass and vases since the Covid-19 pandemic, but hadn’t attempted a still life until Saturday’s event. Her reason for coming? Pardo and his clinic staff.
Since Pardo placed her in a clinical trial for an MS treatment called Ocrevus, the MS lesions have stopped growing. “This is hands-down the best care in the world,” Thompson said.
Like Thompson, patients Jim and Donna Mernka of Yukon were unaware of World MS Day until learning about Saturday’s event.
“Donna sees this as sort of a reunion with some of the people she sees occasionally in the clinic,” Jim Mernka said. “Once we get home, I’m excited for our new paintings to go up on the wall.”
World MS Day is observed globally each May 30 to raise awareness of the chronic autoimmune disease. In MS, white blood cells destroy myelin, the insulating layer that protects nerves in the brain and spinal cord. More than 1 million Americans live with MS, with varying degrees of severity. For most people, early symptoms arise suddenly and can include vision loss, difficulty walking and numbness.
Pardo and his OMRF care team serve more than 4,000 patients from Oklahoma and surrounding states. Several OMRF labs also investigate various aspects of MS and related diseases.
Earlier this month, the foundation broke ground on the David R. Brown, M.D., Advanced Human Imaging Center, which will house a powerful new MRI. It will also allow OMRF’s MS patients to receive care, testing and infusion therapy at a single site.
“It also gives us the opportunity to understand the disease at an individual in much greater detail,” Pardo said.
Saturday’s event was developed by Lauren Still, a social worker at the MS Center, and OMRF clinical research scientist Bujana Allushi, Ph.D.
“Living with MS can take a heavy toll, not only on a person’s physical health but on their emotional well-being,” said Allushi, who assists patients in enrolling in clinical trials for new therapies. “My hope is that they left today feeling proud of the creativity reflected in their artwork, and with a deeper sense of how much this team cares about and supports them.”
