Late Cincinnati millionaire leaves $13.5 million to ALS research at UC Gardner institute
The UC Gardner Neuroscience Institute just received its second largest donation in history: $13.5 million.
The gift comes from the estate of late Cincinnati millionaire Hugh Hoffman, to use toward ALS research and patient care.
The donation is life-changing for patients with ALS and their families, according to Dr. Robert Neel, director of the ALS Multidisciplinary Clinic at UC Health.
“Of all the neurological diseases that we know of today, ALS is likely the cruelest and the area in which we have witnessed the least progress in a century of science,” he said in an announcement Monday.
ALS, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, is a fatal neurological disorder that causes loss of muscle control through destroying nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. It was formerly known as 'Lou Gehrig's disease,' for the famous New York Yankees baseball player who died two years after developing ALS in 1939.
People with ALS gradually lose their ability to walk, talk, chew and breathe. Average life expectancy after diagnosis is between two to five years, and there is currently no known cure.
The disease affects around 1,100 Ohioans, according to the ALS Association, a nonprofit that advocates for patients with ALS.
Hugh H. Hoffman's father was one of them, which was why Hoffman was a dedicated supporter of ALS-related causes.
The $13.5 million donation will be used toward a research and a clinical support services fund that gives patients access to specialists such as nurse practitioners, therapists and nutritionists. It will also help provide technical equipment for patients as they lose motor control over their limbs and voice.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: UC Gardner Neuroscience Institute receives $13.5 million for ALS care, research
