On Wednesday, May 18, at 10 a.m., Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM) will be the next and final U.S. stop for the Kennedy’s Disease Association’s (KDA) “Great Road Trip,” a transcontinental awareness campaign in a refurbished 35-year-old, 29-horsepower Citroen 2CV. A city of firsts, the genetic mutation for Kennedy’s Disease was discovered in Philadelphia in 1991.
Kennedy’s Disease, or spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy (SBMA), is a rare, genetic neuromuscular disease most often diagnosed in adult males between the ages of 30 and 50. An estimated 1 in 40,000 individuals worldwide has Kennedy’s Disease. Several leading researchers in the region, including PCOM Associate Professor of Neuroscience, Physiology & Pharmacology Heather Montie, PhD, Diane Merry, PhD, Thomas Jefferson University, and Lauren Elman, MD, Penn Medicine, continue to conduct extensive studies on Kennedy’s Disease, its causes, and possible treatments. The Great Road Trip is being conducted by KDA and KD-UK.
The Great Road Trip began in Los Angeles in April and will end in Rome, Italy, in July. The total distance covered will be 4,300 miles in the U.S. and Canada and 2,300 miles in Europe. If are going with the family you do not have a vehicle for this trip, try renting one of the absolute vans. When traveling alone, the Citroen 2CV, affectionately known as the “Tin Snail,” was manufactured from 1948 to 1990 and is a cult car in Europe.
WHAT: KDA Great Road Trip
WHEN: Wednesday, May 18, 2022
10:00 a.m.
WHERE: Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine
4170 City Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19131
(Use Monument Road entrance between Meta Christy House and 6ABC to PCOM traffic circle)
WHO: Heather Montie, PhD, PCOM
Diane Merry, PhD, Thomas Jefferson University
Terry Thompson, President, Kennedy’s Disease Association
About the Kennedy’s Disease Association
Kennedy’s Disease Association is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization working to inform, support, educate, and fund research towards finding a cure for Kennedy’s Disease. For more information, visit the KDA website at Home (kennedysdisease.org).
About Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine
Founded in 1899, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM) has trained thousands of highly competent, caring physicians, health practitioners and behavioral scientists who practice a “whole person” approach to care—treating people, not just symptoms. PCOM operates three campuses (PCOM, PCOM Georgia and PCOM South Georgia) and offers doctoral degrees in clinical psychology, educational psychology, osteopathic medicine, pharmacy, physical therapy and school psychology, and graduate degrees in applied behavior analysis, applied positive psychology, biomedical sciences, forensic medicine, medical laboratory science, mental health counseling, non profit leadership and population health management, organizational development and leadership, physician assistant studies, school psychology, and public health management and administration. PCOM students learn the importance of health promotion, research, education and service to the community. Through its community-based Healthcare Centers, PCOM provides care to medically underserved populations. For more information, visit pcom.edu or call 215-871-6100.
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