use sig: Marney Rich Keenan

Friends for life

Renowned neurologist teams up with mall magnate to fight ALS

Donna Terek / The Detroit News

Dr. Eva Feldman, from the University of Michigan's neurology department, is a leader in ALS research. Her efforts will be aided with a charity auction and gala that aims to raise $1 million. See full image

Facts about ALS

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease, is the most devastating of all the neurological diseases. Always fatal, it affects the motor neurons in the brain and spinal cord that transmit messages to muscles.

Over a relatively short period of time (2-5 years on average), people lose their ability to move and speak while their mind remains aware.

ALS is not a rare disease. It has no cure. It knows no limits and attacks regardless of race, gender, ethnicity or socio-economic status.

In the U.S., there are more than 30,000 people with this incurable and fatal disease.


Stephanie S. Peterson / U-M Health

Feldman and mall magnate A. Alfred Taubman became allies after she treated him for problems related to diabetes. See full image


Stephanie S. Peterson / U-M Health

Feldman and mall magnate A. Alfred Taubman became allies after she treated him for problems related to diabetes. See full image



I t is an odd morphing of brains and big bucks, this unlikely pairing of billionaire and academician. But, together, these two just may pave the road for a cure for one of the most devastating diseases.

This story begins seven years ago, when, in 1999, shopping mall magnate A. Alfred Taubman developed troubling "neurological issues" stemming from his Type II diabetes condition.

Naturally, the continuous benefactor to the University of Michigan (i.e., the Taubman Center and the Taubman Medical Library) sought help on his home turf.

He got more than he asked for in the form of U of M's Eva L. Feldman, M.D., Ph.D., renowned for her groundbreaking research in the fields of diabetes and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), commonly known as Lou Gehrig's Disease.

"She helped me incredibly," the 82-year-old Taubman said over the phone from his home in New York recently. "She's become a great friend."

Now, Taubman is hosting the ALS Event 2006 Charity Auction & Gala on Saturday that will honor Feldman's efforts in ALS research and raise money for it.

Sparing no indulgence, the gala will be held at Taubman's personal air terminal for his fleet of private jets at Oakland International Airport in Waterford Township.

And there's more. Taubman has promised to match dollar for dollar up to $1 million raised in the event.

"I've set up this million, and I only hope I have to give away even more," he says. "I am convinced Eva knows more about the brain than any living person on Earth. Put it this way: If anyone is able to visualize how to cure this horrible disease of ALS, it's her."

Researcher and physician

In addition to being the Top Gun of U of M's Neurology department, Feldman is also the director of U of M's Neuropathy Center, the director of U of M's ALS clinic, the director of the university's Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Center for the Study of Complications in Diabetes and the director of the Program for Neurology Research and Discovery.

"She is extremely highly regarded on the national level as both a scientist and physician," says Dr. Sid Gilman, U of M's Distinguished University Professor of Neurology and Director of Michigan Alzheimer's Disease Research Center.

She is also indefatigable, arriving at her lab at 5 a.m and staying every night until 7 or 8 p.m. In addition to her research, she treats over 100 patients stricken by a variety of neuromuscular diseases and ALS. All patients receive cutting-edge treatment; many

participate in her numerous clinical trials via grants through the National Institutes of Health, and foundations funding diabetes and ALS research.

Feldman talks rapid fire, but that's just because her brain seems to work faster than most mortals. Driven by a passion for scientific discovery ("It's like being Sherlock Holmes every day and never knowing what you're going to find!"), she concedes to bordering on an obsession.

"Yes, they are long days," she says, "but you have to understand: I love what I do. This is not a job. It's an avocation. It is my life. And I consider myself to be the luckiest person that you would ever meet."

While it is safe to say that when a cure for ALS is found, it may have Feldman's fingerprints, the journey is long, and plodding and very expensive.

With federal funding for all neurological research dramatically slashed in recent years, private donors are not only cherished, but coveted.

She heaps praise on Taubman: "Alfred is one of the brightest, kindest, most philanthropic, generous, understanding men I've ever met."

But inherent in their friendship is the understanding of what they both can bring to the table. Taubman recounted how, in the 1970s, he was the principal benefactor for research -- specifically done by Dr. Jerome Horowitz of the Karmanos Cancer Institute (formerly known as the Michigan Cancer Foundation) -- which led to the development of AZT: the first drug for the treatment of HIV infection.

"It was a great feeling to be a part of that," Taubman says. "I'm counting on Eva's work to have the same effect."

In terms of real financial need, no scientist, no matter how many letters they have after their names, are in it for the money. On average in Feldman's lab for example: a young scientist with a Ph.D. makes about $36,000 a year, while more experienced scientists with 10 years under their belt may make $55,000. Factor in the cost of computers, mice, supplies, and total expenses can be as daunting as the search for a cure.

But, nothing, it seems, has ever seemed insurmountable to Feldman.

"I swear, she was born with an incredible reservoir of intestinal fortitude," says Kelli Sullivan, an assistant research scientist who has worked with Feldman as a postdoctoral fellow for 13 years. "She puts in more hours here at the lab than any of us. And probably more than some of us combined sometimes."

During her tenure, Feldman also managed to raise three children: Lauren, 23, Scott, 21, and John, 18. All three are now steeped in college and grad school tracks of their own. Feldman is divorced from their father, a radiologist, but they remain "great friends."

Patients benefit directly

Because of her dual degrees of a Ph.D. and M.D., Feldman is in a unique position to administer the fruits of her scientific research directly to her patients. She often invites patients -- many of them in wheelchairs -- to visit her lab and see their disease and new drug therapies at the molecular level. (Taubman is such a frequent visitor, young scientists have nicknamed him "Mr. T.")

"I know they leave with a sense of hope that they didn't have before," Feldman says. "And, too, they inspire all of us to work even harder."

That's because even while hovering over a microscope, ever present in Feldman's mind are patients like Doug Pinter, a 43-year-old computer analyst, who was diagnosed with ALS two years ago.

Now Pinter cannot walk. He cannot bathe himself, and he has lost his speech. Because he cannot hold his neck up, he must wear a neck brace.

Still, mercilessly characteristic of ALS, Pinter's mind is acutely aware of every loss in this rapid shutting down of him.

Yet for all this family's suffering, the Pinters, who live in Lake Orion, are grateful for two things: as father of the bride, Doug managed to walk his 22-year-old daughter, Mary, down the aisle (albeit with a walker) at her wedding this past May. (With Dr. Feldman's help, Mary is now in graduate school studying molecular neurobiology.)

Secondly, they find great solace in being under Feldman's wing.

"Doug is one of the few patients who wants to go on a vent when it's time," says his wife Cheryl, 43. "Because, as he told Dr. Feldman, he wants to hang on for as long as he can for a cure."

Marney Rich Keenan's column runs in The Detroit News Features section on Thursdays and in Homestyle on Saturdays. You can reach her at (313) 222-2515 or mkeenan@detnews.com.
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