Press Releases

RETT SYNDROME RESEARCH FOUNDATION APPOINTS CHARLES CURLEY, JR. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Cincinnati, Ohio, April 4, 2007 - Charles "Chuck" Curley, Jr. has been named by the Rett Syndrome Research Foundation ("RSRF") as its new Executive Director.

Curley has been a board member for the past five years and board secretary for the past three. His involvement with the Rett Syndrome Research Foundation began in 2001 when he and his wife Paula organized the first Boston Festival of Food & Wine event to benefit the work of the foundation.

Rett Syndrome is a severe childhood neurological disease that affects girls primarily. It is caused by mutations in a protein gene (MECP2). Rett Syndrome is the most physically disabling of the autism spectrum disorders, striking randomly after a normal birth and childhood prognosis.

The Curley's oldest daughter Caroline, born in 1995, was diagnosed with Rett Syndrome in 2000.

In addition to their work on the Boston Festival of Food & Wine, which has raised more than $2 million to date, Curley and his wife have also been involved with the annual Chef's Classic Road Race, also in support of the Rett Syndrome Research Foundation.

The Rett Syndrome Research Foundation, founded in 1999, is dedicated to funding biomedical research seeking treatments and a cure for Rett Syndrome. The hiring of Chuck Curley follows the February announcement by RSRF of the results of a landmark study underwritten, in part, by RSRF that saw the symptoms of Rett reversed in laboratory mice. The experiments, carried out in Scotland, showed that the effects of Rett in mice could be reversed, leading to the hope that similar results could someday be replicated in humans. The study results have been published online in Science Express, February 8, 2007.

"Chuck Curley is the perfect candidate to take over leadership of RSRF," said Steve Gallucci, Chairman of the RSRF board of directors. "Chuck is a passionate advocate and fundraiser who has experienced the challenges of Rett Syndrome personally. At a time where significant progress in Rett research has been announced, Chuck's decision to now take on the challenge of leading RSRF into the next phase could not come at a more important time in our short history."

Curley, a 1989 graduate of Notre Dame spent the past 17 years as a business-to-business advertising sales representative with a focus on the microwave-wireless communications industry. He makes his home with his family in Norwood, Massachusetts.

Chuck Curley
35 Chickering Road
Norwood, MA 02062

781-762-2240: office
781-762-2231: fax
chuck@rsrf.org
www.rsrf.org