(MOVR) Visualization and Reporting Platform (VRP), to help make clinical data more accessible and accelerate discovery of muscular dystrophy treatments. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, MDA converted several of its traditional programs to virtual formats and introduced new virtual programming. The latter included several Facebook Live events discussing challenges that the pandemic placed on people with disabilities. It also provided COVID-19 resources and recommendations for neuromuscular patients and providers via its online resource center. Throughout stay at home orders due to the COVID-19 pandemic, MDA shared a "joke of the day" from National Ambassador Ethan Lybrand via their social media channels. January 2021, MDA announced Indianapolis Colts running back Nyheim Hines as its national spokesperson. National Goodwill Ambassador Each year (sometimes for multiple-year stretches), a child affected by a muscle disease is chosen to be the MDA's "National Goodwill Ambassador", which, until the 1980s, were referred to as "poster children". In 1952, the MDA inaugurated Michael Danna as its first Poster Child. One of the most well-known ambassadors was Mattie Stepanek, the National Goodwill Ambassador from 2002 until his death in 2004, notable for his best-selling Heartsongs series of poetry books, and his appearances on The Oprah Winfrey Show and Good Morning America. More recent National Goodwill Ambassadors have been 12-year-old Bryson Foster (2012–2013) of Concord, North Carolina, who is affected by Duchenne muscular dystrophy and 9-year-old Reagan Imhoff of New Berlin, Wisconsin. Research In 1986, MDA-funded researcher Louis M. Kunkel identified the dystrophin gene, the gene for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) and Becker muscular dystrophy (BMD). MDA funded the first gene therapy trial in 1999, followed by the first vector based gene therapy trial for DMD in 2006. In 2007, MDA funded Adrian R. Krainer and his colleagues at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in Laurel Hollow, New York for the early-stage development of nusinersen. Nusinersen became FDA approved in 2016 as the first treatment for spinal muscular dystrophy (SMA). As of 2018, MDA had a total funding commitment of more than $58 million distributed among 312 research grants. By 2019, MDA supported 252 research projects worldwide, totaling a funding commitment of more than $66 million. Programs and events Fill the Boot Drive Since 1954, MDA has partnered with the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) for the annual Fill the Boot Drive, where firefighters around the country ask those passing to donate to MDA via one of