Solve FSHD

Executive Director Eva R. Chin leads the management team and day-to-day operations, including grant and partnership selection. Scientific decisions are guided by a Scientific Advisory Board of FSHD experts, and the Board of Directors — chaired by Chip Wilson — provides strategic oversight. No external investment committee is involved; capital is deployed directly through the organization's grant and collaboration structure.

Solve FSHD works through an open call for proposals, targeted outreach to FSHD researchers, and partnerships like the Modalis collaboration (June 2025) and the Epicrispr XPRIZE Healthspan bonus prize (May 2025). The organization's scientific advisory board — including FSHD researchers like Michael Kyba and Lawrence Korngut — helps identify promising approaches. There is no separate deal sourcing team; the management team and board curate opportunities.

Solve FSHD is a venture philanthropy organization, not a family office. It is funded entirely by the Wilson family's $100M commitment, but it operates with its own management team, board, and scientific advisors. The Wilson family's broader assets are managed separately by Hold it All, their family office led by Jason Gaede. Solve FSHD is ring-fenced for FSHD drug development.

Solve FSHD makes direct grants and enters into strategic collaborations — it does not commit to external investment funds. Its model is analogous to a venture investor, but it funds research and development directly through partnerships with academic labs, biotech companies, and clinical trial sites. The Modalis collaboration is an example of an R&D partnership, not a financial investment.

Solve FSHD targets all stages from preclinical research through clinical development. Recent activity includes funding early-stage CRISPR-based approaches (Modalis, June 2025) and supporting XPRIZE competition finalists (Epicrispr, May 2025). The 2027 deadline compels focus on approaches that can reach human trials within that timeframe, but the organization does not publicly restrict its stage preference.

Solve FSHD only funds research and development directly related to FSHD — it avoids all other therapeutic areas and asset classes. The organization does not invest in real estate, public equities, venture capital funds, or non-FSHD biotech. Its entire mandate is focused on curing facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy.

The $100M commitment comes from Chip Wilson, co-founder of lululemon athletica. Wilson built his wealth in technical apparel, founding Westbeach Snowboarding Ltd. in 1979 and lululemon in 1998. He also has real estate and private equity holdings through his family office, Hold it All. Co-founder Neil Camarta, a former Shell and Suncor executive, does not separately disclose his own contribution to Solve FSHD.