WAKEFIELD — During its recent annual gala, The Angel Fund for ALS Research announced its most recent donation of $711,000 in support of the research of Robert H. Brown Jr., DPhil, MD, the Donna M. and Robert J. Manning Chair in Neuroscience and professor of neurology at the UMass Chan Medical School. The Angel Fund for ALS Research has provided more than $6 million in funding to UMass Chan for ALS research and continues to support the researchers who are committed to advancing research into ALS or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.
The Angel Fund for ALS Research has donated a total of nearly $9 million to ALS research since its founding. According to UMass Chan Medical School, Dr. Brown discovered the first gene associated with hereditary ALS and led the first clinical trial for ALS using gene therapy.
ALS is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects neurons in the brain and the spinal cord. People with ALS slowly lose the ability to initiate and control muscle movement, which often leads to total paralysis and death within two to five years of diagnosis. While 10 percent of ALS is familial in origin because of a genetic defect, the other 90 percent of ALS cases are considered sporadic or without a family history.
“All of us on the UMass Chan ALS research team are profoundly grateful to the Angel Fund for its generous support. Support from the Angel Fund has been enormously important in our efforts to develop innovative ALS therapies,” Dr. Brown said. The announcement was made by the organization’s president, Rich Kennedy. Kennedy and his family have been impacted by ALS. His father, Chris and brothers, Jimmy and Jake, died from the disease. In 2016, at the age of 56, Kennedy was diagnosed with ALS.
“The Angel Fund remains deeply committed to supporting Dr. Brown and the UMass Chan ALS research team,” Kennedy said on behalf of the Board of Directors and Advisory Board members, most of whom were on hand for the announcement. “The hard work undertaken by the researchers on a daily basis is making significant progress and gives us genuine hope that we’re moving closer to an effective treatment and ultimately a cure for ALS. The Angel Fund for ALS Research is proud to say that of funds expended, more than 90 percent is given to research.”
For more information about The Angel Fund for ALS Research go to theangelfund.org or call 781-245-7070.