Shire Supports Rare Disease Patients Through Scholarships

As part of our commitment to the rare disease community in the US, we offer the Shire ACES (Award for Collegiate Education from Shire) Scholarship. The scholarship provides a $5,000 grant, which may be renewed annually for up to three years, to cover educational expenses at an undergraduate college or vocational school. Recent high school graduates and equally qualified students with a rare disease may apply.

The 2015 ACES Scholarship recipient was Ty, a 19 year old from Clayton, North Carolina. Ty has Fabry disease and was diagnosed when he was five years old. He says, “I’ve used having the disorder as a way to reach out and motivate and inspire people. I’ve also participated in programs to try to raise awareness of Fabry disease.”

Additionally, we continue to provide annual scholarships to support individuals in both the US and Canada with Attention Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) who are pursuing higher education.

In the US, the Michael Yasick ADHD Scholarship by Shire includes a $2,000 bursary and a year of ADHD coaching from the Edge Foundation to help recipients overcome the challenges they might face. Since the start of the program in 2011, Shire has awarded 293 national scholarships and 22 employee scholarships.

In 2015, the Shire Canada ADHD Scholarship Program selected five recipients from over 300 applicants across Canada. It was the third year of the program that supports Canadian adults living with ADHD who are pursuing a postsecondary education to reach their full academic potential. Find out more at ShireADHDscholarship.com