MDA OPENS CENTER AT UC IRVINE
FOR LOU GEHRIG'S DISEASE TREATMENT, RESEARCH

TUCSON, Ariz., Aug. 12, 2002 — The University of California, Irvine Medical Center in Orange, Calif., has been designated as the site of a new MDA/ALS research and clinical center. The center is the 26th facility to receive the designation from the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

MDA established the comprehensive, multidisciplinary facility 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, to be directed by neurologists Tahseen Mozaffar and John Weiss, is located in the UC Irvine Medical Center at 101 The City Drive South in Orange. Those wishing to obtain more information or to schedule an appointment at the center should call MDA’s office in Orange at (714) 550-0161.

Mozaffar, a UCI assistant clinical professor of neurology, and Weiss, a UCI associate professor of neurology, anatomy and neurobiology, head a team that offers a multidisciplinary approach to ALS treatment. The center provides ALS patients with care from physicians, a nurse coordinator, physical therapist, occupational therapist, speech therapist and a genetic counselor. The center will also feature a pulmonologist, cardiologist and gastroenterologist — all available on-site.

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

“We’re delighted to add the UC Irvine facility to our roster of MDA/ALS centers,” MDA President & CEO Robert Ross said. “Under the direction of Drs. Mozaffar and Weiss, 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.”

The UC Irvine facility is the fourth MDA/ALS center in California, joining two similar centers in Los Angeles and a third in San Francisco. Other centers are located at major institutions in Albuquerque, N.M.; Atlanta, Baltimore and Boston; Charlotte and Durham, N.C.; Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Kansas City; Madison, Wis.; Miami, Philadelphia, St. Louis and Salt Lake City; Phoenix and Tucson, Ariz.; New Haven, Conn.; New York City (two centers) and Syracuse, N.Y.

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. Today, with more than $130 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.