Bruce Jenner among honorees at celebration benefiting UC Davis Huntington’s Disease Center of Excellence

Bruce Jenner, the 1976 Olympic Gold Medal Decathlon champion, will be one of the honorees at the fourth annual Celebration of Hope Dinner benefiting the UC Davis Huntington’s Disease Center of Excellence, set for Thursday, March 16, at 6 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency Ballroom.

Sponsored by the Northern California Chapter of the Huntington’s Disease Society of America (HDSA), the dinner is intended to honor those who have made significant contributions in the areas of medicine, business and philanthropy.

Other honorees at the dinner will be Tai Babilonia, a champion figure skater; state Senator Deborah Ortiz; Dorothy Ouchida, legislative advocate for Pfizer Pharmaceuticals; and Andrea Zanko, a genetic counselor at UC San Francisco.

The UC Davis HDSA Center of Excellence is part of the Department of Neurology, and received its “Center of Excellence” designation from the HDSA in 2001 for recognition of excellence in care for patients and families with Huntington’s Disease. Its director is Vicki Wheelock, associate clinical professor of neurology.

Huntington’s Disease is a fatal, genetically inherited brain disorder that affects about 30,000 people in the United States. There are about 15,000 more people considered “at risk” for the disease.
The UC Davis center provides comprehensive clinical services to patients and their families, including medical, social, psychiatric and rehabilitative care. To receive an HDSA Center of Excellence designation, which is reviewed and renewed annually, a center must achieve a rigorous standard of care. In addition, it must be active in research. The UC Davis center has four active Huntington’s Disease clinical trials and two more pending approval. UC Davis has one of 22 designated Huntington’s Disease Centers of Excellence in the United States.

For ticket information, contact Penny Riley at (916) 927-4400 or plriley@sundt.com.