News Release

Waltham, MA -- May 16, 2003 -- The Boston Cure Project for Multiple Sclerosis (MS) raised over $36,000 for MS research at its fun, teambuilding Scavenger Hunt in Cambridge—dramatically increasing contributions from last year’s Hunt.

The Scavenger Hunt proceeds generously received from the Hunt teams, sponsors and individual contributors will help support the Boston Cure Project for MS and its recently announced Blood, Tissue and Data Bank. The Tissue and Data Bank is designed to increase scientific collaboration amongst MS researchers by providing access to a multidisciplinary resource. It will also reduce time consuming and expensive subject acquisition and sample collection, while making MS a more attractive research area for scientists and companies inventing new technologies.

Art Mellor, CEO of the Boston Cure Project says, “We’re extremely grateful to the Hunt teams, sponsors, contributors, staff and the numerous volunteers who made this event such a great success. This year’s contributions will greatly help us get our Blood, Tissue and Data Bank pilot off the ground.” Mellor added, “We look forward to doing it again next year and so are the participants—in fact, one team is already developing a strategy to win in 2004!”

“The Hunt required a lot of team work such as prioritizing and working together to reach goals,” says Lisa Sargeant, Quality Assurance Analyst at Sun Life Financial. “Although the Sun Life team didn’t win, we were on the same page and able to refocus efforts quickly. To me, that’s a winning effort.”

Scavenger Hunt sponsors included: Clockwork Design Group, Inc., CVS, Go2 Communications, Inc., Gold Wire Technology, Inc., The Hideaway Lounge, Minassian Associates, Inc., Mojo Marketing LLC, O'Shea Irish Golf & Sightseeing Tours, Skelmir, LLC., Sun Life Financial (Wellesley, Mass.) and West Suburban Imaging Center.

About The Boston Cure Project

The Boston Cure Project for Multiple Sclerosis, www.bostoncure.org, is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to curing Multiple Sclerosis (MS) by determining its causes. Boston Cure Project believes this effort can be accelerated by organizing the research process and encouraging collaboration between research organizations and clinicians. A "Cure Map" is currently being developed by the Boston Cure Project to establish what is known and what is not known about the causes of MS. From the Cure Map, Boston Cure Project will facilitate research most likely to reveal the causes of MS in the shortest time through a large-scale, multidisciplinary, MS Repository. For more information about the Boston Cure Project or to make a corporate or individual donation, call 781/487-0008, visit bostoncure.org, or send an email to info-web0706_no_spam_please_@i_mean_it.no_spam_whatsoever.bostoncure.org.

About Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple Sclerosis is a chronic demyelinating disorder of the central nervous system that often results in severe disability including the inability to walk, blindness, cognitive dysfunction, extreme fatigue and other serious symptoms. MS affects over 400,000 people in the US and 2 million individuals worldwide. The disorder occurs twice as often in women as in men. The cause is not known and there is no known cure.