The 14th Annual Huntington’s Disease Research Walk and Run — which will help support research and education at UNMC — will be held on Aug. 30 at Lake Zorinsky Park, 156th & F streets.
“It is amazing to see the community come together to support Huntington’s disease research and education,” said Amy Hellman, M.D., director of the Huntington’s Disease Society of America (HDSA) Center of Excellence at Nebraska Medicine and assistant professor, UNMC Department of Neurological Sciences. “This support allows us to contribute to the understanding, the treatment, and eventually the cure of the disease, and we are honored and grateful to the community for giving us this opportunity.”
The Huntington’s Disease Society of America recently designated UNMC/Nebraska Medicine as one of its 29 Centers of Excellence.
Participants in the Aug. 30 event can choose to run the four-mile hard surface course or walk with the option of going any of four distances – one, two, three or four miles. Registration will take place between 8 and 8:45 a.m., with the run beginning at 9 a.m. and the walk at 9:05 a.m.
Water and refreshments will be provided. The festive event, which will be held rain or shine, includes music, door prizes, raffle and a bouncy castle for children. T-shirts will be given to the first 250 participants. Awards will be given to the top three male and female runners.
“Huntington’s disease care really involves a multidisciplinary team,” Dr. Hellman said. “We work very closely with psychiatry, neuropsychology, genetics, dietetics and nutrition, as well as physical, occupational and speech therapy. It’s a testimony to the quality of our team.”
Diego Torres-Russotto, M.D., assistant professor, neurological sciences, said formerly Nebraskans with HD who wished to participate in research or in clinical trials of new promising drugs had to travel to other states, but UNMC/Nebraska Medicine’s status as an HDSA Center of Excellence will allow patients access to the latest clinical trials and study groups.
“We know the gene that goes awry to cause Huntington’s disease,” Dr. Torres-Russotto said. “We are getting closer to finding an answer. I’m confident that we will find a cure in my lifetime.”
The HDSA Center of Excellence at Nebraska Medicine draws patients regionally from western Iowa, South Dakota, Kansas and Wyoming.
I'm going! Been going for over ten years!