Former Governor Hunt to Speak at Dinner of Champions

(SANEPR.com) July 15, 2008 -- RALEIGH, N.C. (July 14, 2008) – The Eastern North Carolina Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society announces today that former four-term N.C. Governor James B. Hunt Jr. will be the keynote speaker at its annual Dinner of Champions. The event, held September 4 at the Prestonwood Country Club in Cary, will celebrate the positive contributions made by health and life science organizations.

“We are honored to have former Governor Hunt as our guest speaker,” says Bob Bryan, president of the Eastern North Carolina Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. “For more than 20 years, he has been an instrumental part in leading the charge to bring the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries to the forefront of North Carolina’s economy.”

In addition to celebrating organizations making positive contributions to health and life sciences, proceeds from the Dinner of Champions will benefit the Access to Health Care Fund—a fund set up to improve the access to health care for people affected by multiple sclerosis in eastern North Carolina.

For more information, visit www.MSDinnerofChampions.org , or call 919-834-0678.

About James B. Hunt, Jr., Former Governor of North Carolina:
As governor for four historic terms, Governor Hunt has led North Carolina through two decades of dramatic economic change. It was during his tenure as governor that the state transitioned from an economy of primarily traditional industries toward one that includes knowledge-driven industries such as biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and information technology. Through this change, and in large measure because of Hunt’s leadership, North Carolina consistently ranked at the top of the nation in economic growth, job creation and capital investment and was nationally recognized for its top business climate. While in office, Hunt focused on new-economy strategies by establishing the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, the Microelectronics Center of North Carolina, and the North Carolina Biotechnology Center – all of which helped solidify North Carolina’s reputation as the most innovative state in the nation in information technology and biotechnology. Today, Hunt is a member of the law firm Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, PLLC and serves as chairman of the James B. Hunt, Jr. Institute for Educational Leadership and Policy in Chapel Hill.

About the National Multiple Sclerosis Society:
MS stops people from moving. The National MS Society exists to make sure it doesn’t. We help each person address the challenges of living with MS. Each year, through our home office and 50-state network of chapters, we devote approximately $125 million to programs and services that enhance more than one million lives to move us closer to a world free of MS. In 2007, the Society invested more than $46 million to support 440 research projects around the world. We are people who want to do something about MS NOW. If you or someone you know has MS, please contact the National MS Society today at www.nationalmssociety.org or 1-800 FIGHT MS to learn about ways to help manage multiple sclerosis and about current research that may one day reveal a cure.

About Multiple Sclerosis:
Multiple sclerosis interrupts the flow of information from the brain to the body and stops people from moving. Every hour in the United States, someone is newly diagnosed with MS, an unpredictable, often disabling disease of the central nervous system. Symptoms range from numbness and tingling to blindness and paralysis. The progress, severity and specific symptoms of MS in any one person cannot yet be predicted but advances in research and treatment are moving us closer to a world free of MS. Most people with MS are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 50, with more than twice as many women as men being diagnosed with the disease. MS affects more than 400,000 people in the U.S. and 2.5 million worldwide.

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