Rich Kennedy, President of The Angel Fund, was interviewed on Friday by Fox 25 Cindy Fitzgibbon about The Annual Walk of Hope for ALS. The Walk takes place in Wakefield on Saturday, September 11th.

You can watch the interview:   The Angel Fund interview on Fox 25 Zip Trip

The Annual Walk of Hope for ALS will be held on Saturday, September 11th in Wakefield, MA. The walk begins and ends on Wakefield’s lower Common, on the shores of beautiful Lake Quannapowitt. The 3.5- mile level route runs parallel to the lake, providing a picturesque walk for walkers of all ages and abilities. Take part in the walk, raise money through pledges and donations, and participate in activities on the Common.

Refreshments will be available for all walkers at the conclusion of the walk. This family-friendly event raises funds that directly benefit ALS  research at the Cecil B. Day Neuromuscular Lab at the UMass Medical Center in Worcester. We encourage you to join in this celebration of hope by walking, and raising money, for those who are living with ALS, or in memory of those who are no longer with us.

To help you with your fundraising efforts, The Angel Fund has joined FirstGiving. com, To get started, log-on to http://www.firstgiving.com/angelfund and click on Get Started, where you can create your own free online fundraising page, include a personal message, a photo, and a personalized web address for your page. • Once your page is created, email the link to friends and family.

Registration begins at 9:00 a.m. with the walk commences at 11:00 a.m. The annual release of doves will take place before opening ceremonies. Create a team or donate to one of teams named below.

The Ranman Team, Park Alliance, Nana’s Banana’s, Team Johnston, The J. Group, Kelly’s Krew, Team Luongo , Team Rockin Robin, Pauline’s Pack, Team Salty and Kay’s Krew, Team Casazza, Arthur’s Eagles, Dorothy’s Darling, June’s Joggers, the Daly Team, Patty’s Angels.

Walk of Hope for ALS Pledge Sheet             Walk of Hope for ALS brochure

Close to 4,000 people attended the 7th Annual Sharon Timlin Memorial 5K Race to Cure ALS. Under beautiful blue skies 1,800 runners and their families were greeted by co-Race Director Abbie Rosenberg who introduced US Senator Scott Brown, former Red Sox pitcher Mike Timlin, sportscaster Steve Burton and our inspiration for the event George Mazareas.

The family fun day continued with children’s races, games, live music, awards and an appearance by David “Big Papi” Ortiz.

The race is named after Sharon Timlin, Mike’s mother, who lost her battle with ALS.  The event has continued to grow in numbers thanks to the hard work of the Hopkinton Running club and the hundreds of volunteers.

For the thirteenth year, the Kennedy family, friends and Angel Fund supporters came to run and walk in memory of Jimmy Kennedy. The day began with the 2.5 mile fitness walk, a five mile run, children’s races and finished with an award ceremony.

Quincy Mayor Koch and former BC High Coach and Athletic Director Jim Cotter, race starter for the second consecutive year, were on hand for the beginning of the five mile race. Gubernatorial candidate Tim Cahill was also present to cheer on the runners. The theme of this year’s race was “MOLAN LABE” a Greek saying which loosely translated means “Bring it on.” This was a tribute to Angel Fund friend George Mazareas.

Note: Sadly, Coach Cotter lost his battle with ALS on July 20, 2010. He touched many lives and will be greatly missed by all who knew him.

The 9th Annual Harpoon Brewery 5 Miler raised $80,000 for The Angel Fund!

Under hazy skies, 2,600 runners participated in the 9th Annual Harpoon 5 Miler. Dan Kanery, (at left), one of the founders of Harpoon Brewery, presented Angel Fund president Rich Kennedy with a check for $80,000.

The Angel Fund  thanks Harpoon Brewery and the  runners who took part in the event to support ALS research.

Harpoon Runners raise money for The Angel Fund

Team Derb raised over $6,000!      Amanda Wadell raised close to $2,000!

Over 300 friends, family and co-workers of the Daly family attended the 5th Annual Daly Family Comedy Night in Beverly. The event featured many raffles, silent auction items, great food and hilarious comedy routines by Paul D’Angelo and company. Thank you to the many people who made this evening such a success!

Former Boston College High School football coach Jim Cotter  was diagnosed with ALS in 2004. His memoirs have just been published. The book entitled A True Man For Others: The Jim Cotter Story is an illustrated memoir that celebrates the career and life of the BC High teacher, counselor and coach. The book is co-authored by sports write Paul Kenney.

Sadly, Coach Cotter’s battle with ALS ended on July 20, 2010.  Coach touched many lives and will be greatly missed by all who knew him.

The Angel Fund will benefit from a portion of the proceeds from the sale of book. To read more click here or to order A True Man For Others: The Jim Cotter Story please click here.

WORCESTER, Mass.—Three prominent philanthropic organizations – The Angel Fund, The ALS Therapy Alliance and Project ALS — dedicated to finding a treatment for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) have financed a new collaboration between one of the world’s leading ALS researchers and RXi Pharmaceuticals Corporation (Nasdaq: RXII), a biopharmaceutical company pursuing the development and commercialization of proprietary therapeutics based on RNA interference (RNAi). Robert Brown, MD, DPhil, Chair of the Department of Neurology at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester (UMMS), will study the use of RXi’s self-delivering rxRNA™ (sd-rxRNA™) compounds as a potential treatment for ALS.

ALS is a progressive and fatal, neurodegenerative disorder affecting the motor neurons in the central nervous system. As motor neurons die, the brain’s ability to send signals to the body’s muscles is compromised. This leads to loss of voluntary muscle movement, paralysis and eventually death from respiratory failure. The cause of most cases of ALS is not known. Approximately 10 percent of cases are inherited. In 1993, a team of researchers led by Dr. Brown discovered the first gene linked to familial ALS, a protein anti-oxidant known as superoxide dismutase, or SOD1.

As part of this collaboration, RXi will provide its next generation RNAi technology and materials to Dr. Brown and his team of researchers, and Brown’s laboratory will investigate the level of gene silencing and extended survival in a mouse model of familial ALS in which a human mutated version of the SOD1 gene is over-expressed.

Dr. Brown commented, “We have been searching for an RNAi treatment for ALS for many years and while this approach is very promising, the limiting factor critical to an effective therapeutic has been delivery. I am impressed with RXi’s RNAi platform and believe that RXi’s sd-rxRNAs are the unique solution that could be the key to treating neurological disorders such as ALS.”

Noah D. Beerman, President and Chief Executive Officer of RXi, stated, “RXi is extremely excited about the collaboration with Dr. Brown and his choice to use the company’s sd-rxRNAs to develop potential treatments for ALS. RXi has a long standing interest in ALS and we hope that this collaboration will enable the evaluation of the clinical potential of the sd-rxRNA technology platform for the treatment of ALS and other diseases of the central nervous system.”

The Angel Fund was established in 1997 by Ginny Delvecchio, an ALS patient whose mother and brother died of the same illness. Its mission is to support research and scientific investigations in the fight against ALS at the Cecil B. Day Laboratory for Neuromuscular Research at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. The ALS Therapy Alliance was founded in 2000 to coordinate research for a diverse group of scientists and clinicians working on ALS. In 2002, the ALS Therapy Alliance invited CVS to join the fight against ALS by asking its customers to donate to the cause at the checkout counters. Six years later, that partnership is still thriving and has raised more than $11 million. Project ALS was founded in 1998 by Jenifer Estess and her family and friends, when Jenifer was diagnosed with the disease at the age of 35. To date, Project ALS has raised over $42 million, directing 81 percent to research programs.

The support from these three prominent charities for this research opens a new chapter in the investigation of gene silencing as a therapeutic intervention. UMass Medical School recently broke ground on a new laboratory research facility that will include the RNA Therapeutics Institute, part of Governor Deval Patrick’s Massachusetts Life Sciences Initiative; the Institute is co-directed by Craig C. Mello, PhD, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and the Blais University Professor of Molecular Medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, who was a co-recipient of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Medicine for his discovery of “RNA interference” – gene silencing by double stranded RNA. Mello is also the Chairman of RXi’s scientific advisory board.

About RNA Interference (RNAi) and sd-rxRNA™

Regarded as a revolutionary discovery in biology, RNA interference (RNAi) is a naturally occurring mechanism whereby short, double-stranded RNA molecules interfere with the expression of genes in living cells. This mechanism has the potential to be harnessed to “silence” or specifically block the production of disease-causing proteins before they are made. This technology can potentially be used to treat human diseases by “turning-off” genes that lead to disease in the first place. RXi Pharmaceuticals is using RNAi technology to develop RNA-derived molecules targeting disease-causing genes.

sd-rxRNA is a proprietary technology recently developed at RXi which enables the efficient delivery of RNAi compounds without the requirement of an additional delivery vehicle. This technology has an immediate clinical application for diseases where localized delivery is an option and also has the potential to be applied for indications requiring systemic delivery of RNAi.

About RXi Pharmaceuticals Corporation

RXi Pharmaceuticals is a discovery-stage biopharmaceutical company pursuing the development and potential commercialization of proprietary therapeutics based on RNA interference (RNAi) for the treatment of human diseases. RXi has a comprehensive therapeutic platform that includes both RNAi compounds and delivery methods. RXi uses its own version of RNAi compounds — rxRNA™ — that provide an advanced alternative to conventional small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) and define the next generation of RNAi technology. rxRNA compounds are designed specifically for therapeutic use and contain many of the properties needed to move RNAi based drugs into the clinic. RXi Pharmaceuticals believes it is well positioned to compete successfully in the RNAi-based therapeutics market with its accomplished scientific advisors, including Dr. Craig Mello, recipient of the 2006 Nobel Prize for his co-discovery of RNAi; a management team that is experienced in developing RNAi products; and a strong early intellectual property position in RNAi chemistry and delivery. www.rxipharma.com

About the University of Massachusetts Medical School

The University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS) attracts more than $200 million in research funding annually, and its innovative programs are the centerpiece of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Initiative. Consistently ranked by U.S.News & World Report as one of the leading medical schools in the nation for primary care education, UMMS comprises a medical school, graduate school of nursing, graduate school of biomedical sciences and an active research enterprise, and is a leader in health sciences education, research and public service. UMMS is the academic partner of UMass Memorial Health Care. For more information, visit www.umassmed.edu

The following is an excerpt from the Worcester Telegram and Gazette - Monday, March 2, 2009

By Steven H. Foskett Jr. TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
sfoskett@telegram.com

— Researchers at UMass Medical School have discovered a new gene whose mutations could open up new avenues in the search for more promising therapies to fight amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease, the school has announced.
The discovery, documented in the issue of Science released late last week, was made by a team of researchers led by Dr. Robert H. Brown, chairman of neurology at the medical school.
“We know that when this gene makes a mutant protein, it kills nerve cells,” Dr. Brown said. “If we could stop it from making the protein, it could save the nerve cells.” The newly discovered gene is only the fourth to be linked to familial ALS, an inherited form of the disease that accounts for around 10 percent of all ALS cases. Dr. Brown, who came to UMass in October, also was the leader of a team in 1993 that discovered the first gene linked to familial ALS.
Dr. Brown said the research started with the discovery of the gene mutation among members of a family from the Cape Verde islands. Once the gene was discovered in the Cape Verdean family, it was implicated in other families elsewhere, Dr. Brown said. He said the process was akin to police finding a gun used in a murder, but not knowing who the killer was. The discovery of the new gene and its mutations is like police being able to link the murder weapon to an individual, he said.
The doctor said the discovery opens up new pathways of research. He said the gene can now be introduced into laboratory mice, and can be used in cell-based drug screening. While the gene discovered only accounts for 5 percent to 6 percent of the 10 percent of familial ALS cases, it could give researchers clues related to the biology of the disease.
“It can build up a picture of how the disease evolves,” Dr. Brown said.
Dr. Brown said the gene discovery is a breakthrough, but said problems still exist in the search for a cure for ALS. For example, there are practical challenges in technical delivery that may make it difficult to introduce therapies to humans that were effective with mice. But he said the discovery of the new gene is a step in the right direction.
“I’m a clinician,” Dr. Brown said. “I see patients. In part for that reason and for others, I’d like to accelerate treatment and discovery.”

Dr. Brown was the senior investigator of the study; the lead author on the study was Dr. Thomas Kwiatkowski. Work on the study also involved staff at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and doctors in London and at Northwestern University in Chicago.