About Us
The mission of Neurontoons is to advance medical research related to neuropathy while simultaneously raising awareness of the disease and connecting with individuals affected by it. We chose humor as a means to further our mission because it is a refreshing approach that hopefully motivates affected individuals and gives back to the community.
After decades of suffering from idiopathic neuropathy and being frustrated by a general lack of medical information and limited research, the founder, MW, of Neurontoons, decided to use an approach to fundraising that did not involve the usual walk-a-thons that are not easily accessible to individuals whose feet or legs are affected.
MW became disabled at age 57 as a result of severe neuropathy and other medical problems. Prior to becoming disabled, she had worked as a patent attorney in the biotechnology field for decades. MW knew from her education and experience that the only way to advance knowledge about neuropathy was via testing and basic research.
Between 25% and 46% of persons diagnosed with neuropathy are considered idiopathic, i.e., no underlying cause can be identified. Furthermore, even if the underlying disease is known, a suitable treatment or cure may not be available. Without the ability to treat the underlying disease, physicians can only resort to treatment of the symptoms, which has often turned out to be ineffective.
As a result, individuals with neuropathy live with symptoms that vary widely in intensity and include tingling, numbness, burning, stinging, stabbing, electric shock, and/or restless leg syndrome. They may also suffer from comorbid diseases. By supporting medical research, our ultimate goal is to help those suffering from neuropathy.
We intend to support preclinical studies, clinical trials, gene therapy, natural history and case studies, rescue studies, diagnostic studies, and/or drug development. This ambitious agenda can only be achieved with gifts from both small and large donors.
There are other non-profit organizations, such as CMTA.org and UMDF.org, that conduct fundraising efforts related to neuropathy. Neurontoons does not compete with these organizations, but rather complements their efforts by offering neuropathic individuals a chance to be entertained or distracted through our cartoons.
How Our Cartoons Are Generated
We do not follow a specific formula to create our cartoons. Generally, though, we start with a particular issue or problem that arises with neuropathy and expand that concept into a situation that is amusing or poignant. Then, we imagine neuron characters that could express that situation. We utilize AI to generate an initial rendering of neuron characters, which are then modified pixel by pixel as needed to fit the situation.
Next, preliminary lyrics are drafted for the song, and a public-domain tune is identified or licensed. The draft lyrics are then adapted to the tune. AI is used to enable the neuron characters to “sing.”
