The ALS Association funds ALS research, forging global collaborations and encouraging data sharing. We invest in innovation, technologies and partnerships exploring all aspects of the disease. Funding from The ALS Association over the past thirty years has contributed to a better understanding of ALS, improved care for people living with the disease, and new treatment approaches in clinical trials.
The ALS Association funds ALS research, forging global collaborations and encouraging data sharing. We invest in innovation, technologies and partnerships exploring all aspects of the disease. Funding from The ALS Association over the past thirty years has contributed to a better understanding of ALS, improved care for people living with the disease, and new treatment approaches in clinical trials.
The ALS Association is grateful to be able to fund many of the top ALS scientists in the world, along with up-and-coming fellows, in an effort to expedite treatments and a cure for ALS. See what these researchers have to say about what ALS Association support has meant to them, and the difference donor dollars have made in their work.
5
NEW GENES DISCOVERED IN THE PAST 2 YEARS
150+
ACTIVE RESEARCH PROJECTS
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GLOBAL RESEARCH COLLABORATIONS
"I was extremely honored to receive a fellowship grant from The ALS Association to further my work in studying ALS because I know that so many people apply. It has already helped advance my work on tuning the levels of the C9orf72 gene, the most common genetic mutation in ALS."
“The work of Project MinE will let us know with high certainty the genetic causes of ALS. The resulting data will be available to scientists and companies globally, and will help researchers discover new pathways that can be targeted for drug development. With support from The ALS Association, we have already identified two new genes that we hope will lead to promising therapeutics in the future.”
"ALS Association support helps us on so many levels. It excites us, invigorates us and validates us. But at same time, there is a strong sense of responsibility because this is money from someone that was most likely touched by this devastating disease. That level of trust means a lot and heightens our work."
Accelerating the Pace of Discovery
For the last thirty years, The ALS Association has been a leader in accelerating the pace of discovery when it comes to unlocking the mysteries of ALS. Many significant discoveries can be directly attributed to ALS Association funding, which often helped bring novel concepts to fruition that might not have otherwise been possible.
Did you know that it is possible to look at MILLIONS of cells over many months at one time to track their health? Dr. Steven Finkbeiner at the Gladstone Institutes effectively changed the landscape of how researchers study cells in a dish by developing the Brain Bot, an automated microscopy system that does just that.
Human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technology is a revolutionary method to look at a person’s genetic makeup in a dish like having one’s own avatar. Researchers supported by The ALS Association are busy generating clinical grade iPSC lines to use in ALS research efforts all over the globe.
Antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) therapy is a groundbreaking concept that has drastically changed the gene therapy landscape. The ALS Association has supported ASO research efforts in the 12 years since the first study was initiated in ALS.