Bob Saget To Host Las Vegas Comedy Benefit For Scleroderma At House Of Blues With Food By Top Chef Masters

SAN FRANCISCO, May 16, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Bob Saget will host the inaugural Las Vegas Cool Comedy – Hot Cuisine, a benefit for the Scleroderma Research Foundation (SRF), on Thurs., June 5 at the House of Blues in the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino. Saget, an SRF Board Member who lost his sister to scleroderma, will be joined in the fundraising effort for this often life-threatening disease by singer/songrwriter Ben Folds, a special surprise comedy legend and celebrity chefs that will provide the event's "Hot Cuisine."

Cool Comedy – Hot Cuisine benefits the SRF — America's leading nonprofit investor in medical research to find improved therapies and a cure for people living with scleroderma. The "Hot Cuisine" for the evening will be provided by celebrity chefs/ restaurateurs Susan Feniger, an SRF Board Member, Mary Sue Milliken (Food Network's Too Hot Tamales) and Rick Moonen (all Bravo's Top Chef Masters) who will prepare a multi-course dinner featuring dishes from their highly acclaimed Border Grill Restaurants and RM Seafood for VIP guests (General Admission seats also available).

"It has been an incredible year for scleroderma research. SRF funded scientists have recently discovered a way to stop and actually reverse the disease's telltale scarring in a laboratory setting. This event will help ensure that progress continues to benefit patients everywhere," says Saget.  "It's been said for many years, and it directly applies to what we do with these events—laughter is the best medicine."

The success of Cool Comedy – Hot Cuisine events held in San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York has raised considerable awareness for scleroderma and enabled the Scleroderma Research Foundation to continue funding the innovative research that will bring hope and help improve the quality of life for patients suffering from this debilitating disease. Since its founding in 1987, the Foundation has taken a collaborative approach, bringing together some of the brightest minds in science to unravel the mystery of scleroderma. This approach is providing results with two breakthrough discoveries over the last year; the SRF is funding research that will have life-saving results.  

The word scleroderma literally means "hard skin," but the disease is much more than that, often affecting the internal organs with life-threatening consequences. In some cases, the joints and muscles are affected, resulting in severe pain and limited mobility. Vascular damage due to scleroderma can result in loss of fingers, toes and entire limbs.

Cool Comedy – Hot Cuisine will include a cocktail reception, dinner, stand-up comedy and a musical performance by Ben Folds. There will also be a live auction featuring such unique packages including a dinner prepared in your home by Top Chef Master Rick Moonen, a trip to the Oregon Wine Country in a private jet and access to the 2015 American Idol finale and after party.

Tickets for Cool Comedy – Hot Cuisine with the all-inclusive dinner start at $500 with tables of four or 10 available at $2,500; $5,000; $10,000; $15,000 and $25,000. General admission tickets are also available for the show at $150. These include passed appetizers from the Top Chef Masters and a copy of Bob Saget's recently published memoir, Dirty Daddy. All monies raised benefit the Scleroderma Research Foundation. Advance reservations are required. For more information, call (800) 441-CURE or visit www.sclerodermaRESEARCH.org.

More about Scleroderma and the Scleroderma Research Foundation:

The symptoms and severity of scleroderma vary from one person to another and the course of the disease is often unpredictable. Women are disproportionately affected with scleroderma (representing four out of five patients), usually striking in the prime of their lives, between the ages of 20 and 50; however, children and men of all ages and across all ethnic boundaries can also be affected.

 Today, there is no way to prevent scleroderma and there is no cure. Treatments are available for some but not all of the most serious complications. The continued success of the Scleroderma Research Foundation is entirely dependent upon charitable gifts from individuals and corporations. Dr. Fredrick Wigley, Director of the Johns Hopkins Scleroderma Center states in the Project Scleroderma video, "the SRF has made an incredible difference, and I am absolutely convinced with the right support there is nothing that can't be done."

The Foundation was established in San Francisco in 1987 by scleroderma patient Sharon Monsky who lost her battle to the disease in May of 2002. Monsky's legacy lives on through the organization she founded, which is chaired by Luke Evnin, Ph.D., managing partner of MPM Capital, one of the world's largest dedicated investors in life sciences.

The Foundation's collaborative approach is enabling scientists from leading institutions across the nation and around the world to work together and develop an understanding of how the disease begins, how it progresses and what can be done to slow, halt or reverse the disease process.

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SOURCE Scleroderma Research Foundation