Steve O’Donnell will speak at the next meeting of the Delmarva CMT Support and Action Group on Saturday, January 7, 2012, in Easton. A longtime member of the Board of Directors of the Charcot- Marie-Tooth Association, O’Donnell lives with the neuromuscular disorder.

“I am actively involved in keeping this at bay,” said O’Donnell. “I have finished the Chesapeake Bay Swim a number of times and have been able to raise a great deal of money for CMT research by doing so.” O’Donnell, of Roland Park, is president of a company in Baltimore and bikes, swims or does Yoga daily. CMT patients slowly lose normal use of their extremities as nerves degenerate and muscles weaken because the affected nerves no longer stimulate the muscles.

Charcot-Marie-Tooth, or CMT, is the most commonly inherited peripheral neuropathy and is found worldwide among all races and ethnic groups. Discovered in 1886 by three physicians, Jean-Martin Charcot, Pierre Marie, and Howard Henry Tooth, CMT affects an estimated 2.6 million people worldwide, including more than 250 within 50 miles of Easton.

“A World without CMT”: that’s the CMTA’s vision, and the driving force behind its mission. Leading the CMTA in its mission is a governing board of directors and a medical advisory board comprised of over 50 clinical and research medical professionals who are experts in neurology, genetics, orthopedic surgery, physiatry, physical therapy and podiatry.

Anyone with an interest in CMT is encouraged to attend the meeting which will be held from 10 AM until Noon at the Talbot County Senior Center, 400 Brookletts Avenue, Easton, MD. Please contact Missy Warfield by email at missywarfield.cmta@gmail.com for further information or visit www.cmtausa.org.