Brendan Chambers had just crossed the finish line at the 2013 Providence, Rhode Island marathon, when he spotted the Muscular Dystrophy Association’s tent. The two pretty girls manning the table had caught his eye, but it wasn’t only that. His uncle, Luke, had just died from Lou Gehrig’s disease, or ALS. Standing at the tent, Brendan . . .
Results from a natural history study for familial (inherited) ALS caused by a mutation in the SOD1 gene have confirmed that a variation of the mutation called SOD1 A4V is associated with a more aggressive disease course when compared to non A4V SOD1 ALS. A variety of mutations in the gene for the SOD1 protein account . . .
Osaka-based Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma reported on June 20 that it has submitted a New Drug Application (NDA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, seeking marketing approval of its drug edaravone to treat people with ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis). The Japanese pharmaceutical company’s NDA submission marks one of its first steps in establishing a presence in . . .
Once you open up to the idea that there just might still be some good in the world, and in your life, you begin to see it. It may seem small and insignificant, at least at first. But if it’s good, notice it. Acknowledge it. Give thanks for it. ~Patty Blake We’d like to take . . .
Kim Staats, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, was awarded an MDA development grant totaling $180,000 over a period of three years to study potential causes for sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Using a cutting-edge approach to identify genetic contributors in sporadic ALS, Staats has found a new gene . . .
Editor’s note: Ray Spooner, a certified nurse midwife, who has ushered thousands of babies into the world, was diagnosed with ALS just a few months after dousing himself in the Ice Bucket Challenge of Summer 2014. An avid cyclist and fitness enthusiast, Ray knew he had little time before his physical capabilities would be taken from him. Shortly . . .
Kathrin Meyer, a postdoctoral researcher at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, was awarded an MDA development grant totaling $180,000 over three years to study the roles of cell types other than motor neurons in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Please describe your current research. For a long time, ALS research focused mainly on the motor . . .
A strong-willed man and a fun-loving prankster, Ronnie Townsend was “a character,” according to his sister Karen Hicks. Being diagnosed with ALS didn’t change that one bit. “He was a brother and he aggravated me to death,” Karen says, chuckling. “He aggravated me until the day he died.” She was the youngest girl in the family, . . .
Turning 16 years old is a pretty big deal, but Jordan George didn’t want that milestone birthday to be all about her. She wanted to give back. Jordan celebrated her sweet 16 in April by giving a gift to MDA — $1,600 in donations that she had asked for, instead of presents, for her birthday. . . .
Evangelos Kiskinis, assistant professor in the department of neurology & physiology at Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern School of Medicine in Chicago, was awarded an MDA research grant totaling $300,000 over three years to decipher the degree of mechanistic overlap in different forms of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Using cutting-edge technology, Kiskinis will activate ALS . . .
