Members of Einstein's IDDRC Receive Special Recognition

On Saturday, May 5, 2012, Dr. Steven Walkley, director of Rose F. Kennedy IDDRC, and Dr. Marc Patterson, a pediatric neurologist from the Mayo Clinic and a member of the RFK-IDDRC’s external advisory committee, were presented with certificates of special recognition by Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut at the reception for the annual gala benefit and concert for Dana’s Angels Research Trust (DART).

DART, which is based in Stamford, CT, is dedicated to raising funds and awareness for Niemann-Pick type C (NPC) disease, a genetic brain disease that causes severe motor and cognitive dysfunction.

Philip Marella, founder of DART and father of two children with NPC disease, also presented Guardian Angel Awards to Drs. Walkley and Patterson for their contributions to NPC disease research and treatment. Cristin Davidson, a graduate student in Dr. Walkley’s lab at Einstein also was acknowledged for her discovery that a drug, cyclodextrin, is beneficial as therapy for NPC disease. Efforts are underway to initiate an FDA-approved clinical trial for the fall of 2012 using cyclodextrin to treat NPC disease.