U.S. Rep. Tom Allen, Jackson scientist Dr. Greg Cox to speak at Walk to Defeat ALS Saturday

Date: August 23, 2008

What: First-ever Walk to Defeat ALS in Bangor

Where: Hayford Park on Thirteenth Street, Bangor, Maine

When: Saturday, August 23, remarks at 10 a.m. (5K Walk begins at 10:30 a.m.)

Who:

  • Jim Hamel, Executive Director, ALS Association, Northern New England Chapter
  • U.S. Representative Tom Allen
  • Dr. Greg Cox, Jackson Laboratory Associate Professor, ALS researcher 
  • Lisa Kingsbury, Chair of the Walk Planning Committee

Congressman Tom Allen will be a guest speaker at the first Walk to Defeat ALS in Bangor on Saturday, an event that coincides with the American Folk Festival in the Queen City this weekend. 

The Walk is presented by the ALS Association, Northern New England Chapter. Lisa Kingsbury, wife of an ALS patient, chairs the Walk Planning Committee; Committee members and walkers include a large team from The Jackson Laboratory, where Dr. Greg Cox and colleagues study ALS and other neuromuscular diseases.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease) is a progressive, fatal neuromuscular disease that slowly robs the body of its ability to walk, speak, swallow and breathe. The life expectancy of an ALS patient averages two to five years from the time of diagnosis. Every 90 minutes someone in this country is diagnosed with ALS, and every 90 minutes another person will lose his or her battle against this disease.

The Bangor Walk to Defeat ALS has already surpassed its fundraising goal of $15,000. Altogether the ALS Association's Northern New England Walks have raised more than $160,000 to date, the organization's most successful season in the nine-year history of the fundraiser. Nationwide about 150 walks will be held this year. Funds from the Walks support community-based patient services programs and ALS research at The Jackson Laboratory and other U.S. institutions.

The Jackson Laboratory is a nonprofit biomedical research institution and National Cancer Institute-designated Cancer Center based in Bar Harbor, Maine. Its mission is to discover the genetic basis for preventing, treating and curing human diseases, and to enable research and education for the global biomedical community. 

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Contact(s): Joyce Peterson, 207-288-6058

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Email: news@jax.org