Experts agree that unless we do something, by the year 2025, 1 in 25 American adults will have ALS, Alzheimer's or Parkinson’s, also known as neurodegenerative diseases. Project ALS has made progress toward stopping the encroaching health crisis by driving aggressive studies in stem cell research, genetics, disease modeling, and drug screening. Recent studies have shed light not only on the genetic underpinnings of neurodegenerative disease, but also on new therapeutic opportunities. Project ALS research teams are currently testing a range of prospective therapeutics, from gene silencing to clinical trials of cancer drugs that may also help slow ALS and related brain diseases. The Project ALS research advisory board has identified 2017 as a critical year in which we may see one or more therapies slow disease progression.
Team Chris Combs
Late last year a close friend of Harriet Mills, Wine & Design’s CEO, was diagnosed with ALS. Seeing Chris Combs, former NCSU baseball player and active Raleigh community member, affected by ALS opened Mill’s eyes to this devastating disease. This instilled a will to help, not only Combs, but all those who are currently affected by ALS. With Wine & Design’s Paint It Forward division, it only felt natural to partner with Project ALS.
Come Paint it Forward with Wine & Design and Project ALS on Thursday, May 18th!
Project ALS is one of many organizations that work for the benefit of treating and curing ALS. Through our partnership we hope to meet our $50,000 goal and secure a long standing relationship with Project ALS. This year will be our first campaign and we hope to repeat it for years to come. May is ALS Awareness Month. The majority of the funds raised will be collected during a one day event at every Wine & Design studio, in addition to donations throughout the entire month of May.
Wine & Design Efforts Will Speed FDA Drug Screening
With $50k—the fundraising goal projected by Wine & Design for this initiative—Project ALS will purchase sufficient quantities of FDA approved drugs for cancer, diabetes and other diseases, and test them rationally and aggressively for their possible efficacy in ALS. Recent genetics studies of thousands of ALS patients have revealed that ALS may share more in common with such diseases as cancer, diabetes, obesity and asthma, than was realized. Therefore, at the direction of its lead scientists, Project ALS has undertaken the thorough testing of the most promising FDA approved drugs in the range of ALS models. Testing will occur at Project ALS hubs at Columbia University and Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard University, and in conjunction with partners from pharmaceutical companies. If the FDA approved drugs show safety and efficacy in ALS laboratory models, Project ALS and others will lead a move to patient trial.
Paint it Forward with us and make a difference.
Over 6,000 people are diagnosed with ALS each year, impacting families and communities nationwide. Sign up, show up, sip up, and PAINT for a cure.
Find your local Wine & Design studio here. See you May 18th!
Can't make it to our one day event? No problem! We'll be taking donations in our studio throughout the month of May.
Donate Directly Here:
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