In the News
On October 6, 2011, Robert Ferrante, PhD, MS, Co-Director, will receive the Leonard Gerson Distinguished Scholar Award established by Sandy Gerson Snyder in memory of her father Leonard Gerson who passed away from ALS at age 70. The award supports educational programs for faculty and staff at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine as well as the community at large, with the goal of broadening horizons and pushing the boundaries of knowledge as scientists, physicians, and patients work together in the fight against ALS.
The Center for ALS Research has been designated as a site for the second phase III trial of dexpramipexole. The start date is not yet known.
Scientists identify another protein, ubiquilin, that accumulates abnormally in motor neurons in sporadic and familial ALS. [link to pdf Nature article] Investigators hope that this discovery will lead to therapies that act on this protein pathway, but there are no immediate implications to patient care.
The Center gratefully acknowledges donations from the 2nd Annual Jon Obusek Memorial Bike Run and funding support from the Walter S. and Lucienne Driskill Foundation for research studies to collect blood, CSF and post-mortem tissue samples from ALS patients to discover biomarkers for the progression of ALS.
