The ALS Association funds the world’s largest ALS research program, working with more than 150 labs around the globe. The ALS Association supports a wide breadth of specific fields of study that are critical to advancing ALS research.
A significant portion of the research funded by the ALS Association is done through the vast network of clinical research and clinical trials. The ALS Association funds a nation-wide network of Certified Treatment Centers of Excellence, which must meet the ALS Association’s clinical care and treatment standards based on the American Academy of Neurology Practice Parameters. In order to achieve this certification, the clinic must participate in ALS-related research and successfully complete a comprehensive site review.
Clinical studies funded by the ALS Association in the TREAT ALS research program include both clinical management projects that improve people’s lives in the present and clinical trials that hold promise in the future – for people living with ALS, caregivers and loved ones. Both are extremely important in the fight against ALS.
Currently, the ALS Association funds two clinical trials through two Certified Centers in Texas. The first is being conducted by Dr. Stanley Appel at the Houston Methodist Research Institute. The study is a pilot trial of the safety and tolerability of a cell therapy for symptom management or potential slowing of disease progression in ALS and related disorders.
The second trial being conducted in Texas is through Methodist Hospital by Dr. Joseph Masdeu. The study aims at detecting MRI and inflammation biomarkers that can be followed as the disease progresses. These biomarkers could be used to monitor the effect of treatments targeting them and could be present in the pre-symptomatic stages of the disease, leading to therapies to prevent it.
By donating to ALS Texas, you help fund clinical care for people with ALS to better their quality of life, as well as high-quality research to find treatments and a cure for ALS. Our programs work in tandem to make sure that we are fulfilling our mission of leaving no stone unturned in the search for a cure for ALS.
To give to ALS Texas, visit donate.alstexas.org.
