Jim Hiller, CEO of Hiller's Markets is generously turning dollars into critically needed research for ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) more commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

Hiller, who lost his mother to the disease in 2000, has pledged $1 million to establish the Hiller ALS Clinic and Research Center at Wayne State University. This generous gift further strengthens WSU's neurology research programs and the Wayne First capital campaign at the School of Medicine.

The Hiller ALS Clinic and Research Center at WSU will focus on comprehensive team-centered research and patient care while collaborating extensively with other universities and programs which also do cutting edge neuromuscular research.

Richard Lewis, MD, Wayne State University Professor and Associate chair of neurology, is the Director of the Hiller ALS Center. According to Dr. Lewis, such innovative research approaches are critical and multidisciplinary teams that include neurologists, therapists, genetic counselors and basic science researchers allow for optimal treatment plans for ALS sufferers. "This is a true translational research program with information obtained from patients generating basic research projects which will foster new approaches to the patient," Dr. Lewis said. "The Hiller ALS Clinic and Research Center will allow physicians, scientists and health professionals to more effectively translate scientific discoveries into compelling and compassionate clinical care treatments."

Hiller stated; "I have known Drs. Lisak, Lewis and Loeb for some time and I am persuaded that no university or hospital anywhere offers such excellence when it comes to treating ALS patients and in the research which will lead us ultimately to treatments for this disease. Wayne already has established itself as the foremost site for research and treatment of inherited neurological disorders and ALS is a logical adjunct to that work. It is a privilege to fund the work of dedicated and capable physicians like Dr. Richard Lewis and Dr. Jeffrey Loeb.

The Department Chairmen Dr. Bob Lisak is an important part of our Center as well. His vast knowledge and the esteem with which he is held by the scientific community and the medical community allows us to begin this endeavor with a significant amount of respect from peer institutions and fellow researchers and clinicians alike"

ALS is a fatal disease that attacks the central nervous system and causes motor neurons to die in the brain and spinal cord. This results in paralysis and increasingly difficult breathing, as the body is unable to follow the brain's instructions, causing loss of muscle control and eventual atrophy throughout the body. The debilitating condition was made tragically famous by baseball legend Lou Gehrig, but continues to affect 30,000 people in the U.S.

"There are few disorders that are so debilitating and upsetting as ALS. With no cure in sight, it is critical that we work to maintain the best possible treatments and quality of life for patients in the clinic. It is equally important to creatively investigate basic scientific aspects of the disease in hopes of developing novel therapies. Mr. Hiller is enabling us to search for such a breakthrough," Dr. Lewis said.

For more information about the Hiller ALS Clinic and Research Center at Wayne State University School of Medicine, please go to www.neurology.med.wayne.edu/hals.