health

Development Director Klementina Sula, Sally and Bob
Goldman, and Lynn Torossian, CEO, Henry Ford West
Bloomfield Hospital

Goldmans Endow Therapy Dog
Fund At Henry Ford WB

Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital
has received a generous donation
from Sally and Bob Goldman of
Franklin to endow its therapy dog
program.
Sally Goldman is a nurse, working
in the neurosurgery clinic since the
hospital opened in 2009. She enjoys
the presence of the therapy dogs, as
she and her husband, Bob, have a pas-
sion for animals.
The Goldmans are aware of a dog’s
effect on patients and staff, especially
children. Research indicates inter-
acting with a therapy dog can lower
blood pressure, reduce feelings of
loneliness and anxiety, and minimize
stress in hospitalized patients.
The dogs also reduce staff stress.
Studies have found that the dogs can
help re-energize and motivate hospital
staff.
This is what drove their desire to
endow the therapy dog program.
“Having a dog in the hospital makes

a big difference,” Sally says.
The hospital has three facility-
owned dogs, Henry and Hope (Black
Labradors) and Benson, a Golden
Retriever. In 2009, Henry was the
first hospital-owned therapy dog in
Michigan. The hospital also has more
than 20 pet therapy dogs that visit
with their volunteer owners.
“We are so grateful to the
Goldmans for their generosity,”
says Lynn Torossian, president and
CEO, Henry Ford West Bloomfield
Hospital. “Thanks to the Sally and Bob
Goldman Therapy Dog Program, we
will be able to maintain this program
permanently.”
Once the hospital-owned dogs
come to Henry Ford, they live with a
host employee for a family-living envi-
ronment.
“It is our hope that others love dogs
as much as we do and want to join us
in supporting this valuable program,”
Bob Goldman says. •

Israeli Researchers Work On ALS Drug

Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
(BGU) researchers are developing a
new therapy for Amyotrophic Lateral
Sclerosis (ALS), using part of an exist-
ing FDA-approved drug that restores
the central nervous system’s immune
defenses and increases life expectancy.
ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s
disease, is a lethal, progressive neu-
rodegenerative disorder that affects
the motor nerve cells in both the
brain and the spinal cord, which leads
to atrophy, paralysis and eventually
death due to failure of the respiratory
muscles.
Because the exact cause is
unknown, current research has
focused on extending the post-onset
life expectancy, now between two and
five years for most
patients.
Part of the dis-
ease’s progression is
linked to increased
activity of glial cells,
a type of immune
cell that damages
and kills the body’s
Dr. Rachel
motor neuron cells
Lichtenstein
and decreases their
ability to cleanse the central nervous
system environment. Dr. Rachel
Lichtenstein of the Department of
Biotechnology Engineering at BGU

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July 27 • 2017

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has focused on reducing this negative
immune response.
“We found a way to thwart the
glial cells from attacking and killing
healthy brain cells,” she says. “Our
experimental results on ALS transgen-
ic mice showed a significant increase
in life expectancy."
She redesigned a portion of an
already FDA-approved drug, which
means they will only need limited
preclinical testing to reach the clinical
phase.
Dr. Ora Horovitz, senior vice
president of business development
at BGN Technologies, BGU’s technol-
ogy transfer and commercialization
company, said, “This could also have
major implications on the life expec-
tancy of other neurodegenerative
disease patients with Alzheimer’s and
Parkinson’s. Our new drug candidate
may prove effective in boosting the
self-cleansing mechanism of the
human brain, thereby improving the
lives of millions of people.”
The researchers are now seeking a
pharmaceutical company partner.
Currently, two drugs are available
for ALS patients, one which extends
survival by only three to six months,
and another new drug, which shows
relatively modest success. •

