Lennard Katz, son of ALS victim, to head muscular dystrophy fight.

Lennard Katz, of East Hills, N.Y., has been elected to the national leadership of the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

Katz, a partner in the Katz Realty Group of New York City, was named a national vice president of the voluntary health organization during MDA's recent board of directors meeting in Tucson.

MDA vice presidents provide counsel in their areas of expertise and assist the Association through advocacy and staunch support of its lifesaving programs and activities.

Katz' father, Sheldon C. Katz, who was also an MDA vice president, died this year from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease). ALS is one of the diseases in MDA's program.

"MDA is privileged to benefit from the leadership and dedication of Lennard Katz," said MDA president and CEO Robert Ross.

"His commitment to MDA's mission is vitally important to our continued progress toward treatments and cures for neuromuscular diseases."

MDA is working to defeat more than 40 neuromuscular diseases through programs of worldwide research, comprehensive services and far-reaching professional and public health education.

MDA maintains some 230 clinics and 30 dedicated MDA/ALS centers nationwide. In New York, MDA has clinics at Mt. Sinai Hospital and Medical Center, Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, the Hospital for Joint Diseases, the Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine at New York University and the Eleanor and Lou Gehrig MDA/ ALS Center at Columbia Presbyterian.