TC Native Alana Cecchi has come home for a couple reasons this week: One, she'll be running in the Cherry Festival 15K this weekend. And two, she's part of a team that's been accepted into the prestigious New York City Marathon on November 4. Cecchi, a genetic counselor with the John Ritter Research Program at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth), will run the marathon in honor of the late actor John Ritter's memory and to raise money for research into thoracic aortic disease. Ritter died at age 54 from an undiagnosed aortic dissection on Sept. 11, 2003 after he experienced chest pain while taping his ABC hit comedy “8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter.” The funds raised by Team Ritter will fund genetic research to identify genes or altered DNA that increases someone’s risk for an acute aortic dissection. "By identifying who is at risk, we can prevent the premature deaths due to aortic dissections,” says Dianna Milewicz, M.D., Ph.D., director of UTHealth’s John Ritter Research Program. Cheer on Cecchi at the Cherry Fest's Festival of Races and learn more or donate to her NYC quest here.