POPULAR TELEVISION HOST TO SERVE AS MDA’s
NEW NATIONAL ALS AMBASSADOR

TUCSON, Ariz., April 30, 2009 — Nancy O’Dell, longtime host of the entertainment-news show “Access Hollywood” and author of the book “Full of Life,” has accepted a new role as MDA National ALS Ambassador, the Muscular Dystrophy Association announced today.

Nancy O'Dell

The announcement was made in conjunction with the start of National ALS Awareness Month. In her new role, O’Dell will raise awareness of MDA’s fight against ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig’s disease) through media interviews, public appearances and public service announcements.

In June 2008, ALS claimed the life of O’Dell’s mother, Betty Humphries, who was 74. O’Dell joined MDA's efforts to spur ALS research after her mother learned she had ALS in November 2007.

“It is an honor to be part of such a wonderful organization as MDA,” O’Dell said. “They were there every step of the way for me and my family after my mother’s diagnosis. My mom was such a beautiful person and, with MDA’s efforts, I feel that some day in the near future other families won’t have to go through what we did because a cure will be found.”

This Labor Day weekend, O’Dell will return for a second year as a co-host on the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon. She also serves as an MDA national vice president.

“We’re thrilled to welcome Nancy O’Dell as MDA National ALS Ambassador,” said MDA President and CEO Gerald Weinberg. “Her personal experience with this devastating disease, as well as her 13 years as the host of a popular newsmagazine show, will be great assets in communicating MDA’s determination to eradicate ALS.”

O'Dell’s book, "Full of Life: Mom to Mom Tips I Wish Someone Had Told Me When I was Pregnant," was recently released by Simon and Schuster.

ABOUT ALS

ALS destroys the nerve cells controlling voluntary muscles (including those used for breathing and swallowing), causing extreme muscle weakness and ultimately paralysis, while leaving mental function intact.

Striking healthy, fit adults in the prime of life, ALS often is fatal within two to five years after diagnosis.

ABOUT MDA'S ALS DIVISION

Active in ALS research and services for over half a century, MDA has invested more than $250 million in its ALS program, providing grants to leading researchers worldwide, and medical care at 36 MDA/ALS research and clinical centers and 220 general MDA clinics across the country.

MDA’s ALS services also provide help with the purchase and repair of wheelchairs, leg braces and augmentative alternative communication devices; support groups; ALS-specific health and research publications and presentations, an ALS Web site (www.als-mda.org) and ALS chat rooms (www.als-mda.org/chat/calendar.html).

As MDA’s national ALS ambassador, O’Dell joins MDA ALS Division co-chairs Augie and Lynn Nieto in raising awareness of, and funds to fight, this devastating disease.