ALS Therapy Development Institute Enrolls Former NFL Running Back Kerry Goode, Diagnosed with ALS, in its Precision Medicine Program
Cambridge, MA (PRWEB) November 05, 2015 -- The ALS Therapy Development Institute announced today that former University of Alabama football star and NFL running back, Kerry Goode, who joined forces with the Kevin Turner Foundation following his ALS diagnosis, has enrolled in the Institute's Precision Medicine Program. Goode announced in September that he was formally diagnosed with ALS after experiencing symptoms of rapid weight loss and muscle twitches for over a year. With no effective treatments or cure for ALS, Goode has chosen to enroll in the ALS Therapy Development Institute’s Precision Medicine Program, which the Kevin Turner Foundation funds. The goal of the program is to identify subtypes of ALS and the specific compounds that treat each type to advance the most effective treatments into clinical trial.
“I am excited about the Precision Medicine Program and the opportunity to be on the front line in the quest to find a cure for ALS soon,” says Kerry Goode, the former NFL running back who received his ALS diagnosis in August 2015.
The Kevin Turner Foundation has been deeply involved in ALS research, funding the ALS Therapy Development Institute since its inception. Those funds have enabled the Institute to advance potential treatments into clinical trials, such as its Phase 2a trial of Gilenya in 2014. In addition, the Foundation provided crucial funding allowing the Institute to kick-off its Precision Medicine Program, the world’s first, and still only, actively recruiting program specifically designed for ALS.
“Together with the other 200 people enrolled in the Precision Medicine Program, Kerry is part of a unique ALS research program. We are working to identify subtypes of ALS and then screen potential treatments against the different subtypes of this disease,” says Steve Perrin, Ph.D., CEO and CSO of the ALS Therapy Development Institute. “The Kevin Turner Foundation provided key funding to enable us to launch this new ALS research program last year, and because of the additional funding we received from the Ice Bucket Challenge in 2014, we were able to expand this program twelvefold. Being able to continue to enroll people like Kerry into this the Precision Medicine Program will accelerate the development of effective treatments and cures for people living with ALS.”
About the Kevin Turner Foundation
The Kevin Turner Foundation has been created to bring attention to ALS and the need for a cure; to raise awareness about the seriousness of brain trauma in athletes at every level of competition and its connection to motor neuron diseases like ALS; and to financially support efforts to study, treat, prevent and ultimately cure this disease. http://www.KevinTurnerFoundation.org
About the ALS Therapy Development Institute
The ALS Therapy Development Institute and its scientists actively discover and develop treatments for ALS. The Institute is the world’s first and largest nonprofit biotech focused 100 percent on ALS research. Led by ALS patients and their families, the charity understands the urgent need to slow and stop this horrible disease. Based in Cambridge, MA, the Institute has served as one of the leaders in sharing data and information with academic and ALS research organizations, patients and their families. For more information, visit http://www.als.net.
Media Contacts:
Tamara Alan, Esq.
The Kevin Turner Foundation, Brentwood, TN
Office: 615-601-1002; Email: tamara(at)kevinturnerfoundation(dot)org
Mari Cody
ALS Therapy Development Institute
Office: 617-441-7220; Email: mcody(at)als(dot)net
Mari Cody, ALS Therapy Development Institute, http://www.als.net, +1 617-441-7220, [email protected]
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