The Ice Bucket Challenge is being credited with helping to raise significant funds that have allowed researchers to identify a gene found to be one of the most common in people with ALS, the deadly disease that affects neurons in the brain and spinal cord.The Challenge became a sensation two summers ago and involved participants, including many athletes and celebrities, pouring ice water over their heads to help raise awareness of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, better known as Lou Gehrigs disease.The effort raised more than $100 million in contributions for the ALS Association, which contributed $1 million to the Project MinE research project.The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge enabled us to secure funding from new sources in new parts of the world, said Bernard Muller, an entrepreneur who suffers from the progressive disease and helped start the research project. This transatlantic collaboration supports our global gene hunt to identify the genetic drivers of ALS. Im incredibly pleased with the discovery of the NEK1 gene adding another step towards our ultimate goal, eradicating this disease from the face of the earth.The research, detailed in a paper published this week by Nature Genetics, has found NEK1 to be present in 3 percent of cases in North America and and Europe. That discovery will help scientists in understanding the disease and developing new therapies.Pete Frates, a former Boston College baseball star suffering from ALS, was a driving force behind the Ice Bucket Challenge becoming such a huge fundraising success and himself was doused during a ceremony at Fenway Park.Others who were doused for the cause included LeBron James, former President George W. Bush and Ronda Rousey. President Barack Obama was among many who declined the challenge but made a donation. Wilson Chandler Nets Jersey . 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ATLANTA -- Paul Griffin has come out of retirement to lead Georgia Techs athletic department through another transition.Griffin took over this week as interim athletic director at a school in a bit turmoil coming off a 3-9 season in football, a coaching change in mens basketball and reports of internal strife under predecessor Mike Bobinski, who left Georgia Tech after less than 3 1-2 years to take the same job at Purdue.Ill tell you one thing, Griffin quipped Tuesday, no one is more surprised to be sitting in this room having this conversation than me.Griffin was a longtime senior administrator at Georgia Tech, overseeing many of the schools athletic construction projects and also filling in previously as interim AD during the changeover from Dan Radakovich to Bobinski.Less than a year after finishing up his tenure with the Yellow Jackets, Griffin is back on the Flats again -- albeit only temporarily while the school searches for Bobinskis successor.We have approximately 375 student-athletes who are here to be educated, Griffin said. They dont really care about the interim athletic director, whoever that person is. They just want to get an education and have a great athletic experience. Thats part of our charge most immediately.While Griffin is in largely a caretaker role, hes eager to allay any nervousness or uncertainty facing those who worked under Bobinski -- especially new basketball coach Josh Pastner. He hasnt even coached a game with the Yellow Jackets, but hes already got a new boss.After agreeing to serve as interim AD, Griffin immediately cut short a family trip to Florida to meet with Pastner.I understood some of the anxiety he might have, Griffin said. I look forward to working with him this year. I look forward to getting his Georgia Tech relationship off on the right foot.Griffin has a much longer relationship with football coach Paul Johnson, who has openly complained that Georgia Techs athletic facilities hhavent kept up with other Power Five schools.ddddddddddddI dont necessarily disagree, Griffin said. Part of my responsibility is to identify some of the pressing needs, that being perhaps one of them.In an interesting twist, Griffin visited a new football training facility at Atlantic Coast Conference powerhouse Clemson, where Radakovich is the AD, just days before Bobinski left Georgia Tech. The Tigers complex includes a barber shop, bowling alley, miniature golf course and nap room.Georgia Tech, which faces plenty of attendance and fundraising issues in the crowded Atlanta sports marketplace, simply doesnt have the resources to keep up with schools such as Clemson.I just hope the parents of prospects have a little bit more focus on priorities other than having a barbershop in your facility, Griffin said.Johnson, whose relationship with Bobinski certainly seemed strained at times, appeared to take a shot at the former athletic director when asked about the change in leadership.Ive worked with Paul Griffin before. I respect him, Johnson said. Hes a standup guy. If youve got a question, hell give you answer.Theres no timetable on Georgia Tech hiring a new athletic director, and Griffin said hes willing to stay on as long as needed, even into early next year.He wont be making the trip to Ireland, where the Yellow Jackets open the football season Saturday against ACC rival Boston College.If we win the game this weekend, even though clearly I wont be there, Im going to take credit for that, Griffin said, breaking into a smile as he looked ahead to the home opener against Mercer. Because I know theyre going to blame me for the cold hot dogs in Section 221 next week.---Follow Paul Newberry on Twitter at www.twitter.com/pnewberry1963 . His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/paul-newberry ' ' '
