Welcome! The International FOP Association, or IFOPA, is a nonprofit support organization for families dealing with a rare genetic condition known as Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva (FOP). Simply stated, FOP causes muscles and other connective tissue to turn into bone, eventually causing immobility as FOP bone fuses joints.

The IFOPA's mission is to advance and support the Five Keys to a future without FOP.
RESEARCH, the key to a treatment and cure.
EDUCATION, the key to preventing misdiagnosis and finding more FOP families.
ADVOCACY, the key to living independently with full equality.
HOPE, the key to support, survival and community.
CURE, the key to a better future for those with FOP & the people who love them.

The ultimate goal is to find the Skeleton Key that will unlock the mystery and open the door to a cure for FOP. Until then, the work of the IFOPA continues, giving people with FOP hope that the future will bring earlier diagnosis, effective treatments and, one day, a cure.

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News:

• Fourth International Symposium on FOP
• Penn Researchers Discover FOP Gene
• Download the IFOPA and FOP Facts in Brief sheets
• IFOPA Resource Referral Form for the Overcoming Obstacles Database

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