CarolAnn Garratt has Flown Twice Around the World to Raise Awareness of ALS

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., April 22, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The ALS Therapy Development Institute (ALS TDI) is pleased to announce that CarolAnn Garratt will be making a stop-over in Boston as she starts her third flight around the world. The world-record setting pilot will land at the Plymouth Municipal Airport on Saturday April 23, and will give a lecture at Boston University on Monday April 25.

"Those of us who have seen a relative or a friend die of ALS typically feel the need to do something, to help find a treatment for this destructive disease.  I certainly want to help.  If I can combine my love of aviation and raise donations and awareness for ALS at the same time, so much the better," said Garratt, who at 56 years old has already made two previous trips around the world. Garratt has made each trip in a single engine airplane made by Mooney.

The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Association (AIAA) and the Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS) at Boston University have arranged for Garratt to give a presentation and lecture on circumnavigating the globe on Monday, April 25 at 6:30 pm. She first flew solo around the world in 2003, in honor of her mother who died of ALS in 2002. Five years later, Garratt made a second flight around the world, this time with a co-pilot, Carol Foy. Together they set a new world record by circumnavigating the world in 8.5 days in a single engine aircraft. Garratt has written two books about her travels and raised $328,461 to date in support of ALS research.

"CarolAnn's effort brings worldwide attention to ALS and the nearly half a million people who are living with this disease across the globe. ALS has no prejudice to race, age, gender or ethnicity. The prognosis is the same worldwide; no effective treatments and no cure are yet available. The funds raised through this effort will go toward changing that reality as soon as possible and bring real hope to ALS patients today," said Steve Perrin, Ph.D., CEO and chief scientific officer at ALS TDI.

Using a satellite tracker, Garratt's progress across the globe can be followed in real-time online at www.alsworldflight.com and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dash-for-a-Cure/148572991861368. She plans to complete this trip in about 12 months, during which time she will give dozens of presentations about her previous and current flight around the world. All donations made through her effort will fund research at ALS TDI, a 501c3 nonprofit organization developing effective treatments for ALS.

About ALS Therapy Development Institute (ALS TDI)
It is the sole and profound mission of ALS TDI to develop effective therapeutics that slow or stop amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, Lou Gehrig's disease), as soon as possible.  Founded by the family of an ALS patient in 1999 as the world's first "nonprofit biotech," it is now internationally recognized as a leading medical research institution.  Its unique industrial-scale platform actively develops and tests dozens of potential therapeutics each year.  The Cambridge, Massachusetts, based research Institute collaborates globally with academia and industry to lead the effort to bridge the translational research gap which exists in ALS.  For more information about the Institute's current research pipeline and to take a virtual tour of its laboratory, please visit us online at www.als.net

Media Contact: Robert A. Goldstein, ALS TDI, 617-441-7295, [email protected]

SOURCE ALS Therapy Development Institute