On Wednesday night, Secretary of State Kate Brown served as emcee for a special screening of the new film Extraordinary Measures, which stars Harrison Ford and Brendan Fraser. The film is also ‘extraordinary’ in that major parts of it were filmed in the State of Oregon as part of a deal that involved Nike, OHSU, CBS Films, and Oregon Film, whose mission it is to promote the development of the film, video, and multimedia industry in Oregon and to enhance the industry’s revenues, profile, and reputation within Oregon and among the industry internationally.
The film follows a mother and father as they do whatever it takes to find a researcher who might have a cure for their two children’s rare genetic disorder. The disorder is called Pompe Disease, which is caused by mutations in a gene that makes an enzyme called alpha-glucosidase (GAA). Normally, the body uses GAA to break down glycogen, a stored form of sugar used for energy. But in Pompe disease, mutations in the GAA gene reduce or completely eliminate this essential enzyme. Excessive amounts of glycogen accumulate everywhere in the body, but the cells of the heart and skeletal muscles are the most seriously affected1. What makes this project’s connection to OHSU Doernbecher Children’s Hospital so incredible, is that it just so happens that OHSU Doernbecher is the largest Pompe disease research and treatment center on the West Coast.
During the event, which was held on Nike’s headquarters, Secretary of State Brown also announced that Nike was donating it’s $60,000 location fee from the filming of the movie to the OHSU Doernbecher Children’s Hospital. This money promises to go a long way towards serving the Hospital’s mission to improve the health of children in our region by providing quality and compassionate, family-centered care to every child, every day. It could also be key in helping researchers find the cure to rare diseases like Pompe disease.
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