Helping Hand Center, 1 Stonegate Rd, La Grange Park, IL 60526, US

The Muscular Dystrophy Association is a voluntary health agency a partnership between scientists and citizens aimed at conquering neuromuscular diseases that affect more than 1 million Americans. The association was created in 1950 by a group of adults with muscular dystrophy, parents of children with muscular dystrophy, and a physician-scientist studying the disorder. Since the charity s earliest days it has been repesented by volunteer and national chairman, entertainer Jerry Lewis. The association supports more research on neuromuscular diseases than any other private-sector organization in the world. Its scientists are in the forefront of gene therapy research and have uncovered the genetic defects responsible for several forms of muscular dystrophy, Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, a form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease), childhood spinal muscular atrophy, and several other neuromuscular conditions. With national headquarters in Tucson, Ariz. The charity has more than 200 offices across the country, sponsors 230 hospital-affiliated clinics and supports nearly 400 research projects around the world. The association's programs are funded almost entirely by individual private contributors. It seeks no government grants, United Way funding or fees from those it serves.