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Hiller's chief donates $1 million to fight ALS
By Sherri Begin

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Jim Hiller is on a mission.

Before his mother died in 2000 from Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease, he promised her that he would find treatments for the mysterious disease.

"When you're a guy like I am, who has been really successful, you're not accustomed to being completely powerless," said the CEO of Southfield-based Hiller's Markets.

Hiller's $1 million gift to Wayne State University is funding an integrated translational research center for people suffering from ALS, a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, resulting in paralysis and eventually death.

The center provides patients with services that include speech and respiratory therapy and psychological and genetic counseling, in partnership with ALS of Michigan.

The center also conducts research to find the causes of ALS, focusing on the way neurons in the body communicate with each other, with muscles and with other cells, Hiller said.

The center isn't Hiller's first attempt to find treatments for the disease.

Hiller, 59, donated more than $1 million in 2000 to create a fund for ALS research at the University of Michigan, which is still conducting its work today.

"I support good science everywhere," Hiller said. "But currently my efforts are focused at WSU because I think they have such a comprehensive approach in terms of translational research that can be immediately converted into treatments.

"I came to realize that Wayne State University has not just the human assets but a neurology department filled with top researchers that I thought was being underutilized," he said.

Hiller said he is also using his gifts to leverage others from those "who know me and understand how driven I am."

To date, Hiller's gift to WSU has leveraged an additional $50,000 to $75,000 for the center, he said.

Profile in giving
The gift: $1 million
Nonprofit receiving the gift: Wayne State University
Donor: Jim Hiller
Why the gift was made: To fund research into the causes of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, often referred to as “Lou Gehrig’s disease,” and to provide treatment to those afflicted.As part of that, researchers there are developing techniques to provide images of the body at the neuron level so they can watch the disease's progression, he said.

Sherri Begin: (313) 446-1694, sbegin@crain.com
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