MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL FORMS “4♦ALS AWARENESS” TEAM TO COMBAT LOU GEHRIG’S DISEASE

“4♦ALS Awareness” to Commemorate the 70th Anniversary of Lou Gehrig’s Farewell Speech on July 4th

February 3, 2009 –Major League Baseball will raise awareness and financial support for organizations leading the fight against ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis), otherwise known as “Lou Gehrig’s Disease,” with a new charitable campaign, “4♦ALS Awareness,” Baseball Commissioner Allan H. (Bud) Selig announced today.

MLB is working with four leading organizations - The ALS Association, ALS TDI, MDA/Augie’s Quest and Project A.L.S. - whose primary goal is to find a cure for ALS. The initiative will culminate on July 4, 2009, which is the 70th anniversary of Lou Gehrig’s famous farewell speech at Yankee Stadium. ALS destroys the nerve cells controlling muscles, ultimately causing complete paralysis. Average life expectancy is three to five years after diagnosis.

“We are honored and pleased to have the opportunity to join these four important organizations in an attempt to make progress in the fight against ALS, a disease that is associated with one of the greatest players in baseball history,” said Selig. “Lou Gehrig displayed tremendous courage and strength in the face of a debilitating illness, and his speech 70 years ago still stands as one of the defining moments in baseball history.”

Following is an excerpt from Gehrig’s famous speech:
“For the past two weeks you have been reading about a bad break I got. Yet today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth. I have been in ballparks for seventeen years and have never received anything but kindness and encouragement from you fans.”
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TIME MAGAZINE NAMES PROJECT A.L.S. MILESTONE #1 MEDICAL BREAKTHROUGH OF 2008

December 16, 2008 – Time magazine has named a Project A.L.S. initiative its #1 medical breakthrough of the year. “First Neurons Created from ALS Patients” tops Time’s list of scientific and medical advances in 2008.

http://www.time.com/time/specials/2008/top10/article/0,30583,1855948_1863993,00.html

As originally reported in the July 31 online issue of the journal Science, a Project A.L.S.-funded collaboration led by Kevin Eggan, of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, and Christopher Henderson, of Columbia University, and catalyzed by the Project A.L.S./Jenifer Estess Laboratory for Stem Cell Research, demonstrates that pluripotent stem (iPS) cells generated from a patient with ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) can be directed to differentiate into motor neurons—the very brain cells destroyed by ALS.

This was the first published report to show that disease-specific stem cells may be derived from an individual patient. Disease specific stem cells derived using this approach called iPS will allow scientists to view disease process in a range of human disorders.

Since July, Drs. Eggan and Henderson and the Project A.L.S. team have made additional progress using iPS-derived motor neurons and other brain cells to create tiny models of ALS. These tiny models will allow researchers to view ALS in action, under a microscope. The team has also begun using these stem cell models to screen for drugs and compounds that may slow or stop ALS.

“We need the continued support of Project A.L.S. as we take the next step, in collaboration with our colleagues at Harvard, toward drug screening and treatments for patients with this incurable disease,” says Dr. Henderson.

“This news is exciting for all of us, especially people with ALS, and the role played by Project
A.L.S. is significant. It’s our mission to identify, unite, and fund the best researchers and to drive
them toward the greater goal, which is finding medicine for people who need it now," said Valerie
Estess, director of research for Project A.L.S.