MDA DESIGNATES CENTER AT VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER FOR LOU GEHRIG'S DISEASE TREATMENT, RESEARCH

TUCSON, Ariz., Nov. 21, 2002 — The Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn., has been designated as the site of a new MDA/ALS research and clinical center. A dedication ceremony is scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 3. The center is the 29th facility to receive the designation from the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

MDA established the comprehensive, multidisciplinary center to serve people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a fatal muscle-wasting disease prominent in MDA’s program.

In ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, destruction of nerve cells that control voluntary muscles leads to severe muscle wasting and paralysis. Death typically results within three to five years of diagnosis, usually from respiratory complications. Approximately 30,000 Americans are affected by ALS.

The cause of ALS isn't fully understood, and no cure exists.

The new MDA/ALS center will be directed by Vanderbilt School of Medicine neurologists Gerald M. Fenichel and Jane Howard. Fenichel, who was chairman of the Department of Neurology for 32 years, also serves as professor of neurology and pediatrics. Howard is an assistant professor of neurology.

Anyone seeking more information about the new center can call MDA Health Care Service Coordinator Susan Whatley at MDA’s Nashville office at (615) 832-5005. The local MDA office serves individuals across much of Middle Tennessee and Southern Kentucky.

Fenichel and Howard head a team that includes physicians, a nurse coordinator, physical therapist, occupational therapist, speech pathologist, social worker, dietician, and a wheelchair needs assessment team. The center will also feature a pulmonologist, cardiologist and gastroenterologist.

In addition to its clinical services, the team will conduct ongoing ALS research.

“We welcome this Nashville facility to our roster of MDA/ALS centers,” MDA President & CEO Robert Ross said. “Under the direction of Drs. Fenichel and Howard, the center will provide the best, most comprehensive care available for people with ALS, while helping advance our search for better treatments and a cure.”

One of MDA’s earliest volunteer leaders was Eleanor Gehrig, the widow of New York Yankees first baseman Lou Gehrig, whose name has become synonymous with ALS. With more than $135 million invested in the fight against ALS to date, MDA leads the worldwide scientific battle against the disease.

MDA is a voluntary health agency working to defeat more than 40 neuromuscular diseases through programs of worldwide research, comprehensive services, and far-reaching professional and public health education. The Association's programs are funded almost entirely by individual private contributors.