Lou Gehrig's Disease: Help Find a Cure

HELP FIND A CURE FOR Lou Gehrig’s Disease UMASS ALS CHAMPION FUND

VMi New England mourns the passing of former Massachusetts Governor A. Paul Cellucci, a devoted public servant who dedicated the final chapter of his life to raising funds to support the University of Massachusetts Medical School’s research into a cure for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

Please give anything you can to help continue this important research.

In recognition of the critical need for new treatments for ALS, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or Lou Gehrig’s Disease, the UMass ALS Champion Fund is a movement to drive awareness and funding for the ALS breakthroughs happening at UMass Medical School (UMMS) and in the laboratory of Robert H. Brown, Jr., DPhil, MD one of the world’s leading and most promising ALS researchers.

The Champion Fund aims to help Dr. Brown and his colleagues pursue ALS research leads and breakthroughs right now that might otherwise take years to attract funding from traditional sources. As a result, this Fund will make researchers at UMMS better prepared to “seize the moment” when highly promising ALS discoveries are made.

Dr. Brown is widely recognized as a pioneer in neurodegenerative disease research and for 30 years has dedicated his career to unlocking the secrets of ALS, a degenerative disorder that causes progressive muscle weakness, leading to paralysis and eventually death. There is currently no treatment to stop or reverse ALS. Brown has been a leading visionary for ALS treatment and part of nearly every fundamental ALS breakthrough to-date, including the identification of mutations in a gene that is responsible for the rare, familial form of the disease. Brown’s work has opened a window into ALS that has drastically changed the research landscape and provided patients and loved ones touched by ALS with something very rare: hope.

The Champion Fund aims to extend and supplement the already great fundraising initiatives benefiting UMMS. Dr. Brown and team has been fortunate to receive support from a diversity of groups, including the Massachusetts-based Angel Fund and national partner CVS Pharmacy, both of which have been raising money for UMMS and acting as champions in the fight against ALS for more than 10 years. The Champion Fund will complement and extend those funding sources to augment the overall effort..

Now is the time. There is hope. But, victories are a team effort. Join us – become a champion and help fight back against ALS.

View the list of the campaign’s Honorary Co-chairs.