The late Ted Harada, who was my 2016 Stem Cell Person of the Year, was a powerful patient advocate for stem cells and for ALS patients. Each year I give out a Stem Cell Person of the Year Award including a $2,000 prize that I provide myself to the winner, and Ted won that last year.
Unfortunately, I didn’t get to give Ted the prize of $2,000 in person or even tell him the exciting news that he won since he passed away prior to the award. We all miss Ted’s upbeat, positive energy, and this is a big loss for our community. Ted’s wife, Michelle, and I we decided that Ted’s prize money would go as a donation for research to the Emory Center for ALS. You can read about the past Emory ALS phase 2 stem cell trial here.
You can see the image above of Michelle presenting the check to Emory team members, Meraida Pollock, Dr Jonathan Glass, and Jane Bordeaux.
It was my honor to have known Ted and witness his wonderful, positive impact that continues to this day and I’m happy the $2,000 prize goes as a donation for clinical ALS research, maybe even on stem cells, to Emory in his honor.