August 13 , 2004

MGH teams up with CVS to find an ALS cure

For the second consecutive year, the MGH has teamed up with CVS pharmacy and the Boston Red Sox to raise money for research into amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Representatives from CVS announced during the July 23 game between the Red Sox and the New York Yankees that it has raised $2 million to benefit the ALS Therapy Alliance's search for new treatments and a cure for ALS, more commonly known as Lou Gehrig's Disease. The funds were raised through a customer donation campaign held in all 4,200 CVS stores during the month of June. The ALS Therapy Alliance involves researchers from the MGH, BWH, Harvard Medical School and other Boston-area hospitals.

ALS includes degeneration of the motor neurons of the central nervous system. Although it does not affect intelligence or memory, ALS leads to progressive paralysis of the limbs, the diaphragm and the muscles needed for eating and speaking.

"All of us in the ALS Therapy Alliance are profoundly grateful to CVS for its ALS fundraising campaign, which is helping us establish an international consortium of researchers to study factors that trigger this devastating disease," says Robert H. Brown, Jr., MD, PhD, director of the MGH Day Neuromuscular Research Center and president of the ALS Therapy Alliance. "This is the largest single consortium of investigators working together in several countries to solve ALS. This state-of-the-art program would not have been possible without the vision and support of CVS and the generosity of its customers."