StemCell Therapy

Norway's celebrated six-time Olympic medalist and world champion, Vegard Ulvang, leads a group at a "Ski with Vegard" event for the top fundraisers on behalf of MS research two days before the 2012 American Birkebeiner in Cable, Wis., on Feb. 23.

All American Birkebeiner coverage is brought to you through the generous support ofConcept2, makers of theSkiErg.

Dr. Ian Duncans first phone call to Vegard Ulvang two years ago met a little dead air. It wasnt that Ulvang, the executive director of the International Ski Federations cross-country committee, didnt want to talk. He couldnt at the time.

The former Norwegian cross-country skiing superstar had the Olympics to tend to.

Last summer, Duncan, a world-renowned National Multiple Sclerosis Society researcher at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, had his second chance with Ulvang on a bike ride.

During one of his stem-cell advisory trips in Norway, Duncan arranged to meet Ulvang and his family. Already chummy with eight-time Olympic gold medalist Bjrn Daehlie, the MS Societys first ambassador at the American Birkebeiner in 2009, Duncan wanted to persuade both Daehlie and his former teammate, Ulvang, to come to Wisconsin for the 2012 Birkie.

Dr. Ian Duncan (l) and Ulvang during the "Ski with Vegard" session, in which top fundraisers for MS had a chance to ski with the Norwegian legend before the 2012 American Birkebeiner.

For Daehlie, the decision to ski North Americas largest ski marathon three years ago was fairly easy. His mother had MS, a chronic and often disabling disease that affects the central nervous system. Daehlie contacted Duncan to help her.

Aside from being a professor, BVMS, PhD and FRCPath, Duncan was also a leading researcher in determining how cell transplants could repair MS-damaged nerve fibers. The connection between the Wisconsin doctor and Daehlie led the retired skier to come to the U.S. on behalf of MS research. Participating in the Birkie was secondary, but it generated a lot of attention.

Three years later, Duncan hoped to attract two Norwegian ski celebrities to the event as MS research ambassadors. After learning that Daehlie couldnt make it, Duncan asked Vegard, who had already agreed to participate in his first Birkie, for some help.

Link:
Ulvang Serves as MS Ambassador, Talks About Change

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