Apr 23, 2009
Theater Mogul Herman Stone and Billionaire David Murdock Announce Partnership to Cure Disease
Liz Vinson
KANNAPOLIS, NC – Stone, president of Stone Theaters and former owner of Consolidated Theaters joins forces with David Murdock, owner of Castle & Cooke and Dole Foods Company, Inc. and founder of the $1.5 billion dollar NC Research Center (NCRC) in Kannapolis, NC.
Historic Gift to National MS Society, Mid-Atlantic Chapter to Fund New MS Research on the NC Research Campus
Herman Stone, is a generous father making an investment for the health of people across the world; including two of his own children who have MS. Today at the CORE LAB on the NC Research Campus, Stone announced his lead gift and chairmanship of On the Shoulders of Giants: the Carolina’s Campaign to Cure MS (www.MSGiants.org). NCRC creator and billionaire David Murdock, Dr. Mary Hughes of the National Board of the MS Society, scientists from Duke University and numerous local board members and clients were on hand for the announcement.
Stone’s lead gift of $1millon is the largest in the history of the National MS Society in the Carolinas and will support the work of Dr. Simon Gregory along with his research team and partners as they begin a new MS research focus at the NC Research Campus. Through the leadership of Mr. Stone, the collaboration between the National MS Society, NCRC and Duke University will redefine public/private partnerships–a core goal and function of David Murdock’s NC Research Campus.
“The generous investment and leadership of Mr. Herman Stone, in partnership with the National MS Society Mid-Atlantic Chapter and Dr. Gregory of Duke University, is exactly the type of public-private partnership I envisioned for the Core Lab and NCRC. This campaign to cure MS is one of our most exciting early research efforts,” said David Murdock.
“Thanks to the bold and capable leadership of Mr. Herman Stone and his vision to secure research funding in this very challenging economy, and thanks to Mr. Murdock’s generous investment in providing the bricks & mortar and equipment for best-in-the-world research facilities, every dollar invested in On The Shoulders of Giants: the Carolina’s Campaign to Cure MS will directly support the work of Dr. Gregory and approved MS research partners,” commented Lori Hurd, President of the National MS Society, Mid-Atlantic Chapter.
The National MS Society, Mid-Atlantic Chapter is part of a 50-state network of MS chapters that help people affected by MS by funding cutting-edge research, driving change through advocacy, facilitating professional education, and providing programs and services that help people with MS and their families move their lives forward. Facilitating collaborations with researchers like Dr. Simon Gregory is critical to fulfilling the Society’s mission to create a world free of MS.
Dr. Gregory, a leading genetics researcher born in Australia, is applying the 10-years of experience gained from leading the sequencing chromosome 1 for the Human Genome Project to identifying the molecular mechanisms underlying the development of multiple sclerosis. Dr. Simon Gregory is an Assistant Professor at the Center for Human Genetics in the Duke University Department of Medicine.
Recently, Dr. Gregory's group, together with collaborators for the Multiple Sclerosis Genetics Group (MSGG) and the International Multiple Sclerosis Genetics Consortium (IMSGC), identified the genetic association between the interleukin 7 receptor gene (IL7R) and susceptibility to MS. This discovery is purportedly the most significant advance in the field of MS genetics the last 20 years. In this study, which was published in Nature Genetics last year, Dr Gregory’s group described the mechanism underlying the genetic association and showed the effect of the genetic variant on the two products of IL7R.
A long time volunteer for the National MS Society, Mr. Stone recently led an effort to engage a group from the MS community in a meeting with David Murdock. During this meeting, Mr. Stone asked Mr. Murdock if he could help advance the work of MS scientists on the NC Research Campus. Mr. Murdock quickly agreed to open the Core Lab to MS researchers if Mr. Stone would help fund them. On April 23, Mr. Stone announced his lead gift of $1 million and his leadership of On the Shoulders of Giants: the Carolina’s Campaign to Cure MS (more info at www.MSGiants.org). Stone and Murdock stood together at a press conference today (April 23) to launch this historic partnership. In his call to action, Mr. Stone said, “Thanks to Mr. Murdock and his generosity, the best-in-the-world research facilities and equipment now exist. A grassroots effort is what we need most, so whether you give $5, $500 or $5,000, please join me in finding a cure and creating a world free of Multiple Sclerosis. Your financial support to this campaign contributes directly to MS research.”
About Multiple Sclerosis
Multiple Sclerosis interrupts the flow of information from the brain to the body and stops people from moving. Every hour in the United States, someone is newly diagnosed with MS, an unpredictable, often disabling disease of the central nervous system. Symptoms range from numbness and tingling to blindness and paralysis. The progress, severity and specific symptoms of MS in any one person cannot yet be predicted, but advances in research and treatment are moving us closer to a world free of MS. Most people with MS are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 50, with more than twice as many women as men living with the disease. MS affects more than 400,000 people in the U.S., and 2.5 million worldwide.
About the National Multiple Sclerosis Society
MS stops people from moving. The National MS Society exists to make sure it doesn’t. The Society is dedicated to achieving a world free of MS. We are people who want to do something about MS, now. Join the movement at nationalMSsociety.org. Studies show that early and ongoing treatment with an FDA-approved therapy can reduce future disease activity and improve quality of life for people with Multiple Sclerosis. Talk to your health care professional and contact the National MS Society at www.nationalMSsociety.org or 1-800-FIGHT-MS to learn about ways to help people with multiple sclerosis and about current research that may one day reveal a cure.