By Helen Borland / Staff

You can work hard, volunteer, eat right and exercise, but sometimes life throws you a curve ball and it just doesn't turn out the way you think it will.

In July 2009, Ed Tessaro was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. The long-time resident of Roswell and Alpharetta had always kept active with mountain climbing, running and cycling. He was sure a disease like ALS -- more commonly known as Lou Gehrig's Disease – happened to people who were not physically fit.

Last year Tessaro was told he had two to four years to live as his muscle functions declined. He currently walks with a cane and expects to be in a wheelchair by the end of the year. He stays as active as he can and is doing all he can to fight ALS.

But in Jan. 2010, Emory University b ecame the site of the first U.S. clinical trial that focuses on employing stem cells to slow the progression of ALS in adults. And Tessaro is a part of that clinical trial.

Not only that, Ed and his wife Judy Tessaro, known as the founder of Alpharetta's Andover Country Day School, will be serving as Honorary Chairs of the biggest event in the Southeast that raises money exclusively for ALS research.

It's the annual Night of Hope, set for Oct. 1 at the InterContinental Buckhead with a schedule of dinner, music and a silent and a live auction. It will be a black tie evening of celebrating and supporting the fight against ALS. More than 600 guests are expected to help the Tessaros raise their goal of $600,000.

Sponsored by the Muscular Dystrophy Association, the event will bring together both patients and families touched by the disease as well as sponsors ponying up for the fight. The funds raised at the event are earmarked for research, treatments and a cure for ALS.

Although they have spent many years volunteering for other causes, the Tessaros say they feel privileged to now dedicate their lives to this cause and to the new research at ALS Clinics across the nation.

The Emory trials involve Neuralstem, a Maryland firm which hopes to use stem cells from the spinal cord of fetuses to slow the progression of ALS in adults with the disease.

Neuralstem Inc. has already invested more than $50 million in developing its stem cell technology and preparing for human trials. It expects to spend $8-10 million more to complete the clinical trial process.

Emory University is one of five MDA National Clinical Research Centers in the nation. Emory was chosen for the site of the trial because it "has one of the best, if not the best, ALS clinicians and research groups," said Neuralstem President and CEO Richard Garr.

Dr. Jonathan Glass, principal investigator for the trial and Director of the ALS Center predicted that the trial is "going to make us the center of attention for anybody who wants to do stem cell injections into the spinal cord for other diseases. They're going to come to us …and say, "Teach us how to do it."

For more information about the Night of Hope go to the MDA website at MDANightofHope.org or contact Ed or Judy Tessaro at etessaro@comcast.net, 770-410-1981 or 404-395-0965.