Alzheimer's Club

"Jim Lambright, former football coach at the University of Washington, and his wife Lynne have donated $100,000 to the UW School of Medicine, through the Jim Lambright Medical Research Foundation. The funds were raised during a celebrity golf tournament and banquet organized by the Lambrights in early June.

The donation will be used in a pilot project for research into an inherited neurological disorder, Niemann-Pick C disease (NP-C), that afflicts Lynne Lambright's two adult sons, Brad Mackie, 39, and Bart Mackie, 37. (A third son died a year and a half ago of a heart attack; ironically, he was unaffected by the disease.)

"We are very grateful to the Lambrights for their personal efforts in raising funds for research into this disease," said Dr. Paul Ramsey, vice president for medical affairs and dean of medicine. "We hope that research at the University of Washington School of Medicine will help turn their very difficult personal ordeal with this illness into the first steps toward a cure."

Niemann-Pick C Disease is caused by a recessive gene and is ultimately fatal; individuals with the disease are unable to metabolize cholesterol. Large amounts of cholesterol accumulate in the liver, spleen and brain, causing progressive deterioration of the nervous system. People with NP-C usually do not live past the age of 15, but occasionally live into adulthood.

Symptoms include difficulty with eye movements, slurred speech, difficulty swallowing, loss of motor skills, and ultimately dementia, seizures and death.

While there is no treatment for NP-C, researchers have recently isolated the primary gene that causes the disease. While studies are under way to determine the benefits of cholesterol reduction through diet and drugs, the most promising lines of investigation involve genetic therapy and cholesterol metabolism research.

Leading the research effort will be neurogeneticist Dr. Thomas Bird, UW professor of neurology and medical genetics who is also a research neurologist at the VA Puget Sound Health Care System. Bird sits on the foundation's board.

"Understanding of NP-C may also have important implications for more common disorders such as atherosclerosis, mental retardation, Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease," said Bird. "The Jim Lambright Foundation is committed to stimulating novel research on NP-C within the University of Washington community."

"Lynne and I are pleased to be able to work with the University of Washington again on such an important matter," said Jim Lambright. "We look forward to the day when Niemann-Pick C Disease will be curable."

"When our sons became affected by this disease, we knew we had to do something," said Lynne Lambright. "We are grateful for the help of so many people in raising funds and increasing awareness."

Coincidentally, three grandchildren of another famed former college football coach, Ara Parseghian of Notre Dame University, inherited the same disease. One has died. The Lambrights and the Parseghians have joined forces through their two foundations to search for a cure. (Information on the Parseghian Foundation can be found on the web at http://www.parseghian.org/.)"

Source: Health and Medicine : Former Husky football coach and wife give UW $100,000 for research into rare genetic disease (11 August 1999) www.uwnews.org [FullText]