CF

Vince Gill was cookin' at the 12th annual benefit concert for Cystic Fibrosis. But he wasn't the only one doing so at the Baltimore Arena. Some 30 local chefs cooked up their kind of crowd-pleasers at a preconcert VIP reception.More than 1,000 guests mingled and munched in a tent pitched outside the building, whetting their appetites for the tuneful treats that awaited them inside.Among those tasting and talking: Josie Schaeffer, executive director of Cystic Fibrosis Maryland Chapter; Kenn Roberts, concert committee chair; Larry Kushner, executive director of the concert's underwriter, the M.U.S.

The senior medical director for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation said yesterday that he is concerned about Martek Biosciences Corp.'s announcement that a nutritional supplement made by the Columbia-based company had a beneficial effect on mice genetically altered to mimic symptoms of the disease.But the foundation is intrigued by the findings and plans to support a follow-up study to gather information about what role the nutritional supplement might have in treating the inherited, deadly disease that affects more than 30,000 Americans.

Morgan A. Fogle is battling a fatal disease with the same determination she tackles school tasks and karate chops.The 6-year-old New Windsor girl is the 1997 calendar child for the state Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. The photograph of a robust, smiling Morgan pulling a puppy on a skateboard graces the cover on a brochure listing the organization's monthly fund-raisers."That picture told the whole story, and the foundation unanimously agreed it should be on the cover," said Joan Rettaliata, director of special events for the foundation.

PHILADELPHIA -- None of the half-dozen people gathered around the conference table at the Institute for Human Gene Therapy dared say a word. They just looked at institute director Dr. James M. Wilson and waited.Wilson took off his glasses, closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. Wilson never did this unless he was very displeased. Wilson had just asked Colleen Baker, the manager of the institute's Human Applications Laboratory, how her work on a new gene drug was progressing, and she said the laboratory was having trouble making it.It was mid-August.

With one exception, blond-haired Gunnar Esiason is like almost any other 4-year-old boy. He's big on the birthday party circuit, likes to have friends over, and is active in all kinds of sports.The exception is a flawed gene that makes all the difference to him and his parents, Boomer and Cheryl Esiason.Gunnar is one of approximately 30,000 Americans afflicted with cystic fibrosis, a deadly genetic disease that attacks the respiratory and digestive systems of children and young adults.The defective gene controls the flow of mucus in the body.

It was a day we knew would come, sooner not later -- the day my little sister died. The whole family knew the odds of survival. Doctors level with all patients with cystic fibrosis, a hereditary disease that slashes at the lungs until they are too scarred to work. It is a death sentence present at birth. There is almost no chance at clemency. The reward for good behavior is a little more time.Leslie Doyle Bowen had more time than most. She was first diagnosed at the U.S. Public Health Hospital in Baltimore at the age of 12 and she lived beyond her 32nd birthday.

Name: Shirley Murphy of Glen Burnie.Volunteer Work: For Mrs. Murphy, recent medical findings in the fight against cystic fibrosis (CF) are her reward for volunteer work.News that researchers have found a link between a genetic disorder and CF reminds her that answers are coming, but there's still work to be done.Since 1986, when she met the state's poster child, Debbie Klipsch, at a fund-raiser, Mrs. Murphy has devoted a great deal of time helping raise money to find a cure for CF, a congenital disease that attacks the pancreas and causes respiratory infections.

The sweet smell of success is in the air at the offices of the Cystic Fibrosis (CF) Foundation. The reason -- two successful fund-raisers in one week.Last Friday, CF was the beneficiary of an "All Star Celebration" lunch and fashion show that featured some of the Orioles wives as models. Guests arrived at the Sheraton Inner Harbor Hotel to rub elbows with sports hoi polloi and to watch Jill Olson, Capri McLemore, Robin Sutcliffe, Mark and Lori Williamson, Jim and Kim Poole, Stan Stovall, Keith and Elizabeth Mills, Sandy Pagnotti, Vicki Biagini, Tanya Biagino and Dina Bosman model the latest fashions from Saks, Fila USA and Gap Kids.

Technology councils to brief businessesState officials and regulators will brief business people on technology issues in Maryland Tuesday, Jan. 12, from 7:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. at Howard Community College's Science and Technology Building in Columbia.The briefing is sponsored by several of the region's technology councils. For more information, call (410) 730-4111.Anivax tests vaccine to aid CF patientsUnivax Biologics of Rockville has begun an experiment in its development of a product that would treat a sometimes fatal bacterial infection common in cystic fibrosis patients.

Sandy Scott has a vested interest in raising money to help find a cure for cystic fibrosis.Scott, Westminster's chairwoman for Bowl USA, an annual fund-raiser for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, has twoyoung children with the inherited disease, which affects the lungs and digestive tract."

Two hours a day, Jeff Davis works at staying alive. He inhales a succession of medications, runs on a treadmill and sometimes performs breathing exercises that produce gurgly, crackling sounds. It's tedious work, crammed into a life that includes a full-time job as a machinist and leisure time with his wife and two young children in the horse country north of Westminster. But it has paid dividends: A generation ago, few people with cystic fibrosis lived past their teens - and Davis is 35. If there's a miracle in this story, it's that Davis is fairly typical, having soldiered through childhood with a closet full of medications and parents who spent untold hours thumping his torso to keep his lungs clear.

Alexander John Jeffries of Ellicott City will crew for his father, Steve, on Labor Day weekend at Summit Point Raceway in West Virginia. Steve Jeffries, a computer specialist at Northrup Grumman, will be driving a Spec Racer Ford in the Sports Car Club of America's "Laps for Liberation" races. Alex, 11, will help prep the car, set the tire pressures, do a bolt-check, torque the lug nuts, operate the stopwatch and check the oil and water. He may wear a two-way radio as crew chief for his father in the qualifying races.

Jamie Maria Ferber, a respiratory therapist and advocate for cystic fibrosis patients, died of that disease Sunday at St. Luke's Hospital in Jacksonville, Fla. A resident of Inverness, Fla., she lived in Sparks until last year. She was 27. During her second pregnancy, Mrs. Ferber was featured on the ABC News documentary Hopkins: 24/7, filmed nearly two years ago. As a child, she appeared on posters promoting awareness of cystic fibrosis. Born Jamie Maria Mick in Broadway, Va., she attended Eastern Mennonite High School in Harrisonburg, Va., before earning joint degrees in psychology and respiratory therapy from Shenandoah University in Winchester, Va. Shortly after her college graduation, she began working as a respiratory therapist at the University of Maryland.

People with chronic sinus infections might be prone to the condition because they have inherited a single copy of the gene responsible for cystic fibrosis, scientists say. Scientists from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine said the patients do not have cystic fibrosis, an often fatal disease that requires two copies of the gene. But the two conditions might have a common basis. Dr. Garry Cutting, a geneticist who led the study, said he has long wondered whether the cystic fibrosis gene plays a role in chronic sinus disease, or sinusitis, a condition that afflicts 30 million Americans.

TWELVE YEARS ago, thanks to the efforts of two dedicated mothers, the first Cystic Fibrosis Debra Klipsch Walk for a Cure was held at Glen Burnie High School. The fund-raiser was the idea of Debra, a young girl with cystic fibrosis who wanted to raise money for research. After suggesting the idea to her mother, Wanda Klipsch, she called another mother for support. Joan Rettaliata, assistant to the director of the Maryland CF Foundation -- and mother of two sons with cystic fibrosis -- signed on immediately.

The energy level was turned on high for the Maryland Chapter of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation's Spring Swing. About 450 fun seekers gathered to graze at a sumptuous buffet, bid in a silent auction and boogaloo to Bobby and the Believers at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Among the peppy partygoers: Kendel Ehrlich, CF board chair and event co-chair; U.S. Rep. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., event co-chair; Edie Brown, Sandy Pagnotti, Suzanne Smith Nolan and Jon Koscher, board members; Susan Bancroft, Stacy Danko and Lisa Menowitz Hamburger, event committee members; Josie Schaeffer, CF executive director; Dr. Beryl Rosenstein, director of the Cystic Fibrosis Center at Johns Hopkins Hospital; Randy Marriner, chairman and CEO of Marriner Marketing Communications; Lindy Small, director of corporate contributions for Constellation Energy; Clay Richmond, president of Rapid Response Medical Team; Marty Bass, WJZ-TV weatherman; Sheila Silverstein, promotion and marketing director for WPOC-FM radio; Marie Henderson, president and CEO of Marie Henderson Enterprises; Pat O'Hara, Loyola High School teacher; Wanda Draper, director of public affairs at WBAL-TV; and Julie Lombardi, organizational manager at Nordstrom.

Vince Gill was cookin' at the 12th annual benefit concert for Cystic Fibrosis. But he wasn't the only one doing so at the Baltimore Arena. Some 30 local chefs cooked up their kind of crowd-pleasers at a preconcert VIP reception.More than 1,000 guests mingled and munched in a tent pitched outside the building, whetting their appetites for the tuneful treats that awaited them inside.Among those tasting and talking: Josie Schaeffer, executive director of Cystic Fibrosis Maryland Chapter; Kenn Roberts, concert committee chair; Larry Kushner, executive director of the concert's underwriter, the M.U.S.

The senior medical director for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation said yesterday that he is concerned about Martek Biosciences Corp.'s announcement that a nutritional supplement made by the Columbia-based company had a beneficial effect on mice genetically altered to mimic symptoms of the disease.But the foundation is intrigued by the findings and plans to support a follow-up study to gather information about what role the nutritional supplement might have in treating the inherited, deadly disease that affects more than 30,000 Americans.

Morgan A. Fogle is battling a fatal disease with the same determination she tackles school tasks and karate chops.The 6-year-old New Windsor girl is the 1997 calendar child for the state Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. The photograph of a robust, smiling Morgan pulling a puppy on a skateboard graces the cover on a brochure listing the organization's monthly fund-raisers."That picture told the whole story, and the foundation unanimously agreed it should be on the cover," said Joan Rettaliata, director of special events for the foundation.

PHILADELPHIA -- None of the half-dozen people gathered around the conference table at the Institute for Human Gene Therapy dared say a word. They just looked at institute director Dr. James M. Wilson and waited.Wilson took off his glasses, closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. Wilson never did this unless he was very displeased. Wilson had just asked Colleen Baker, the manager of the institute's Human Applications Laboratory, how her work on a new gene drug was progressing, and she said the laboratory was having trouble making it.It was mid-August.