Celebrities to Join 6th Annual Dealing for Duchenne Gala on May 11

LOS ANGELES, April 29, 2013 – CureDuchenne, a nonprofit that raises awareness and funds research to find a cure for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, announces the 6^th Annual Dealing for Duchenne gala will be held on Saturday, May 11 at 6:00 p.m. under the stars at the legendary Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, Calif. This star-studded event will benefit the Center for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy at UCLA. Actor Joel Murray (The Artist, God Bless America, Mad Men, Two and a Half Men) will host the Dealing for Duchenne charity poker tournament to raise funds to support transformative research and provide quality care for children living with Duchenne, a progressive muscle-wasting disease that impacts 1 in 3,500 boys. Boys are usually diagnosed by 5, in a wheelchair by 12 and most don’t survive their mid-20s.

Other celebrities including Hank Azaria (The Simpsons), Tim Olyphant (Justified, Hitman), Anna Belknap (CSI-NY), Oliver Hudson (Rules of Engagement), Anne Heche (Hung, Six Days Seven Nights), James Tupper (Revenge), Brendan Hines (Scandal), Adam Arkin (Chicago Hope), Nicole Sullivan (Cougar Town, Family Guy), Catherine Bell (JAG, Army Wives), Sterling Brown (Army Wives), Josh Malina (Scandal), Kellie Martin (Army Wives), Rich Eisen (NFL Network), Ming-Na Wen (ER), Phill Lewis (Suite Life of Zack and Cody), Mary McCormack (In Plain Sight, West Wing), Camryn Manheim (The Practice, Ghost Whisperer), Judy Greer (Archer, Two and a Half Men), Kelli Williams (Army Wives), Willie Garson (Sex and the City) and Kevin Weisman (Alias) are scheduled to attend the event.

Dealing for Duchenne includes a classic Texas Hold ‘Em poker tournament, red carpet, live and silent auction, dinner by Wolfgang Puck and live music. Dealing for Duchenne is co-chaired by Duchenne parents Amy and Chris Martin and Jorge and Valerie Llauro. 

“Dealing for Duchenne allows us to celebrate our sons who live with Duchenne while raising awareness and funds that will have an impact on their lives,” said Amy Martin, Duchenne parent and co-chair of Dealing for Duchenne. “Currently there is no cure for Duchenne but great progress has been made in the last five years leading toward new and better treatments and in providing quality comprehensive care, which is extending the lives of our children by 10 years. It is annual events like this that have made that possible.”

The 2013 Champions for Life honorees are Marc and Nicole Weiss. The Weiss’ have served on the event committee every year, engaged friends and family to support CureDuchenne and CDMD at UCLA, and helped raise more than a million dollars in the last five years.

The silent auction includes many fabulous items to bid on such as hard to get sporting and concert tickets, set visits and meet and greets, hotel getaways, signed memorabilia, cool electronics and much more. In addition, the live auction includes a four night stay for 20 guests at Casa Aramara, a private resort in Punta Mita Mexico. Click here to bid on this magnificent beachfront retreat on Charity Buzz. The live auction also includes a trip for two to Florida to golf in the annual Caddyshack Tournament and hang with the Murray brothers for four days of golf and parties.

Dealing for Duchenne is presented by UCLA Health Systems and David Geffen School of Medicine. Additional sponsors include:  Stella Artois, Grey Goose, Bacardi, Vorzimer Masserman, Ramland Construction, O’Melveny & Myers LLP, Gibson Dunn, Freedman + Taitelman LLP, GGW Brands, Credit.com and Illumina.  

Tables cost $2,500 and individual tickets are $175. Register now to attend Dealing for Duchene at Dealing4Duchenne.org.

For more information on CureDuchenne go to www.cureduchenne.org or call 949-872-2552.

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

About CureDuchenne

CureDuchenne is a national nonprofit organization located in Newport Beach, Calif., dedicated to finding a cure for Duchenne, the most common and most lethal form of muscular dystrophy. As the leading genetic killer of young boys, Duchenne affects more than 300,000 boys worldwide. CureDuchenne has garnered international attention for its efforts to raise funds and awareness for Duchenne through venture philanthropy. With the help of CureDuchenne’s distinguished international panel of Scientific Advisors, funds raised by CureDuchenne support the most promising research aimed at treating and curing Duchenne. To date, seven CureDuchenne research projects have made their way into human clinical trials – a unique accomplishment as few health-related nonprofits have been successful in being a catalyst for human clinical trials.

About Center for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy at UCLA

Center for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy at UCLA supports Duchenne related muscular dystrophy translational research and clinical care at UCLA. Key missions include building and supporting a state of the art multidisciplinary care program for children and adults with muscular dystrophy, building and supporting a clinical trials infrastructure to accelerate clinical investigation into new treatments, and the support of translational biomedical research relevant to Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

                                                                                                           ###