"He wanted ALS research, not politics, to be his legacy. Even though he had an extraordinarily challenging diagnosis, he was on the phone, raising funds. He wanted to do whatever he could to contribute.” -- UMass Medical School Chancellor Michael F. Collins on the late Gov. Paul Cellucci
Former Massachusetts Gov. Paul Cellucci dedicated the final years of his life to funding a cure for ALS, the incurable neurodegenerative disease he succumbed to on June 8, 2013. The UMass ALS Champion Fund was founded with help from Gov. Cellucci to create a $10 million endowment for research into ALS at UMass Medical School.
Cellucci was instrumental in raising nearly $2 million toward the target. His final wishes were that the Fund reach its goal and that the work done by Robert H. Brown Jr., DPhil, MD, chair and professor of neurology and the Leo P. and Theresa M. LaChance Chair in Medical Research, and other researchers at UMMS could continue unabated. We invite all to visit the UMass ALS Champion Fund website to find out how to become a Champion and help defeat the scourge of ALS.
