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Team Ritter NYC Marathon runners raise aortic disease awareness, funds
HOUSTON – (Oct. 9, 2013) – Friends and family members of people with thoracic aortic disease and fans of the late legendary comedic actor John Ritter will come together as Team Ritter to raise funds for the John Ritter Foundation for Aortic Health (JRF) at the ING New York City Marathon on Nov. 3, 2013.
“We are so proud and grateful to again be one of the official charities of this year’s NYC Marathon and have the opportunity to raise much-needed funds for lifesaving research and education,” said actress, writer and aortic health advocate Amy Yasbeck, the widow of Ritter, who died from an acute aortic dissection in 2003. “Team Ritter runners are passionate about increasing awareness of aortic dissection and its risk factors and are committed to raising funds to support the JRF.”
Funds from the NYC Marathon raised for the JRF will go to the John Ritter Research Program in Aortic and Vascular Diseases (JRRP) at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) to support research to identify genetic risks for aortic dissections. To donate, visit Edward Norton’s Crowdrise online fundraising community: www.crowdrise.com/TeamRitterINGNYCMarathon2013.
“The funds raised by Team Ritter will allow us to continue our genetic research to identify genes or altered DNA that increases someone’s risk for an acute aortic dissection. By identifying who is at risk, we can prevent premature deaths due to aortic dissections,” said Dianna Milewicz, M.D., Ph.D., director of UTHealth’s John Ritter Research Program. “It will also help us spread information to both physicians and the public about symptoms and genetic risk factors for aortic dissections, including the fact that this condition can run in families.” Milewicz is professor and George H. W. Bush Chair in Cardiovascular Research in the Division of Medical Genetics at the UTHealth Medical School.
Fundraising Websites – Crowdrise
Read more and meet the team:
Meet Tara Mastracci, M.D., of Team Ritter
Tara Mastracci, M.D., will be one of 15 individuals running to raise money and increase awarenesss of thoracic aortic disease for the John Ritter Foundation for Aortic Health (JRF) at the ING New York City Marathon on Nov. 4, 2012. Funds from the NYC Marathon raised for the JRF will go to the John Ritter Research Program in Aortic and Vascular Diseases (JRRP) at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) to support research to identify genetic risks for aortic dissections.
Meet Dr. Mastracci:
To counterbalance her intense training and career as an aortic surgeon, Ontario native Tara Mastracci, M.D., has been running since her medical school days. Now she is able to blend her interests together as a member of Team Ritter. Mastracci is on the staff of the Department of Vascular Surgery in the Sydell and Arnold Miller Family Heart & Vascular Institute at Cleveland Clinic and is an assistant professor of surgery at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University. “I am excited that these pursuits will now meet,” said Mastracci, who has run five marathons. “I have dedicated my life to the treatment of aortic disease, and the patients I have encountered with aortic dissection prove to be a large source of inspiration. They are very quickly catapulted into a disease that will affect every aspect of their lives for many years to come. I am always so impressed the way they deal with the ‘marathon’ of aortic health with a positive outlook and a courageous spirit. These are the patients who will inspire me to run.”
Text RITTERTM to 41444 to donate $10 (or specify a different amount in the text message) to JRF to support Dr. Mastracci’s run. Or donate online: http://www.crowdrise.com/TeamRitterNYCMarathon2012/fundraiser/taramastracci.
Read the full press release here.
Deborah Mann Lake, UTHealth Media Relations Media Hotline: 713-500-3030
http://www.ingnycmarathon.org/ http://www.nyrr.org/
Team Ritter to Run the 2012 ING New York City Marathon to Increase Awareness of Aortic Disease and Raise Funds for Research
Actor Tyler Ritter; Watkins Little, the “Ridiculously Photogenic Guy;” thoracic aortic disease survivors and an aortic surgeon will be among the 15 Team Ritter runners dedicated to raising money for the John Ritter Foundation for Aortic Health (JRF) at the ING New York City Marathon on Nov. 4, 2012.
Funds from the NYC Marathon raised for the JRF will go to the John Ritter Research Program in Aortic and Vascular Diseases (JRRP) at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) to support research to identify genetic risks for aortic dissections. To donate, visit Edward Norton’s Crowdrise online fundraising community: http://www.crowdrise.com/TeamRitterNYCMarathon2012/fundraiser/johnritterfoundation.
Read the press release here: http://www.uthouston.edu/media/story.htm?id=6dae1471-9736-49a6-bd12-d51bdb74c517
Meet the runners of Team Ritter: (more…)
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