Endpoints

Normally, you’d expect the subject matter of the videos you see while scrolling through TikTok to be light – funny skits, cute animals, dances, maybe a recipe or two. However, when one of Brooke Eby’s videos comes into your feed, you’ll notice it’s a little different from your average clip. Her TikToks may still be funny and full of jokes, but the subject matter – living with ALS as a young woman...

Welcome to the latest episode of Endpoints Shorts. In these bite-size podcasts, we’ll be tackling important scientific concepts for people interested in ALS research, current clinical trials, and news from around the ALS space ­– all in 15 minutes or less. Our guide throughout this series will be Dr. Nadia Sethi, ALS TDI’s Director of Community Outreach and Engagement. Today, Nadia joins us to tal...

ALS TDI’s primary mission is to discover treatments for everyone with ALS. Every day, our scientists are testing drugs to find the next compound with the potential to make it to clinical trials and beyond. Currently, one of our most promising leads is a group of molecules called copper complexes. These copper complexes, also referred to as redox metabolism modulators, have demonstrated signs of ef...

Today we have the first installment of a new series we’re calling Endpoints Shorts. In these bite-size episodes, we’ll be tackling important scientific concepts for people interested in ALS research, current clinical trials, and news from around the ALS space ­– all in 15 minutes or less. Our guide throughout this series will be Dr. Nadia Sethi, ALS TDI’s Director of Community Outreach and Engagem...

Project Relate is an app for Android phones and tablets that aims to use the power of voice recognition technology to help people with dysarthria, or difficulty speaking, in their day-to-day lives. The app is a product of Project Euphonia – a program founded by Google and Harvard researchers in collaboration with ALS TDI. Although it’s since expanded to include other conditions that mi...

Antibodies are an essential part of our bodies’ defenses against diseases. They are specialized proteins that attack and kill foreign invaders like infectious bacteria and viruses. Antibodies are normally naturally produced by our immune system in response to an infection. However, in recent years, scientists have learned to produce antibodies in a lab to treat a variety of diseases.  Several Anti...

ALS can happen to anyone. Although many outside of the ALS community often think of it as a disease that affects older people, onset can occur at any age, in any person, for reasons that are not understood. Take, for example, Ajay Sampat. He’s 36 years old, he has a wife and two young children, and works as a neurologist specializing in sleep disorders. Earlier this year, he was diagnosed with ALS...

Celecoxib is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, or NSAID. Ciprofloxacin is an antibiotic that is used to treat a number of bacterial infections. The former has been trialed unsuccessfully in ALS. However, according to preclinical evidence and a phase 1 trial conducted by Neurosense, a biotech company based in Israel and Cambridge, MA, these two FDA-approved drugs may hold some promise for peo...

20 years. More than 5000 miles, give or take. Thousands of riders. Countless hugs, tears, and cheers from the side of the road. And, if everything goes according to plan, $10 million raised for research to end ALS. The Tri-State Trek has built quite a legacy over the past two decades, and there is no better time to celebrate it than June 24-26th 2022 – the year that will mark the 20th&n...

There are currently no effective treatments available for ALS. Because of this many people living with ALS turn to Clinical Trials, both to get a chance to receive a potentially beneficial treatment and to help push forward the scientific effort to end the ALS. It’s not an easy commitment –participants may have to travel to faraway sites to receive treatment, undergo uncomfortable or e...

Regulatory T cells, also known as Tregs, are specialized cells that are part of the immune system. As the name implies, they help regulate the body’s immune natural immune response, among other functions According to some studies, the dysregulation of TRegs may play a role in several neurodegenerative disease. Coya Therapeutics is a Texas based biotech company working to utilize TReg therapi...

Sally Stewart knows wine. It’s the focus of her career, and her great passion. As a sommelier, she’s worked in great restaurants in places like Portland, Oregon, Telluride, Colorado, and New York City. Her career was in a great place – she had a resumé that included restaurants at a world-famous ski resort, a restaurant with a Michelin star, and even one founded by food le...

In 2018, ALS TDI began working a big collaboration with a partner you’ve probably heard of – Google. At the time, Google was looking to put their artificial intelligence technology to use to help develop better speech recognition software for people with conditions that affect their ability to talk. ALS TDI was the perfect partner to launch this effort with, having already collect...

One of our most powerful new tools in recent years for in vitro experiments are something called induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPSCs. iPSCs are created with a technique that allows scientists to take living cells, often skin cells, from an adult human and revert them to the state of a stem cell, which can then be grown into any kind other kind of cell in the body – including cells affec...

Much of what causes the 90% of Amytrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) cases that occur sporadically remains a mystery. However, one risk factor that is supported by a large body of evidence is service in the military. In recent decades,  a number of studies  have shown that veterans’ have a significantly higher change of being diagnosed with ALS than the general population. Studies hav...

When it’s used right, social media can be a powerful tool to spread awareness. Before Tavares Speers was diagnosed with ALS, he already had a big social media following. His tens of thousands of Instagram followers would give him enormous numbers of likes on every picture he posted – images of him out partying with friends, hanging at the beach, or out to dinner with his then-part...

After an ALS diagnosis, it can be hard to know where to turn. There are doctors and clinics that offer medical support, and services organizations that can help with getting equipment and things like securing travel to medical appointments. There are advocacy groups that work to change policies to help people with ALS, and research organizations like ALS TDI that are leading the way in finding tre...

Recently, ALS TDI took an opportunity to reintroduce ourselves. If you follow us on social media, read our emails, or check our website you may have noticed that we have a new way of describing our role in the effort to end ALS – that we are the Drug Discovery Engine for ALS. What do we mean by drug discovery engine? It means that our mission is to discover and invent new ALS treatments...

If you aren’t already, you should be tuning in to  I’m Dying to Tell You . It’s a podcast about inspiration, full of compelling interviews with people who have faced incredible challenges – including many people from the ALS community. However, one of the most incredible things about the show is the story of the podcast itself – it's hosted by Lorri Carey, who ha...

Biomarkers are an important part of medical research and drug development. A biomarker is a broad term that describes some sort of measurable property of the body, especially one that can tell us something about a disease. Common examples are glucose levels for type one diabetes and blood pressure for hypertension. Today on Endpoints, ALS TDI’s former CEO Dr. Steve Perrin joins us to talk ab...

The Complement system is an intriguing potential pathway for treating ALS. It’s an essential part of the immune system – and many researchers believe its dysregulation could play a role in some cases of ALS. A class of drugs known as “complement inhibitors” seek to treat ALS by targeting certain proteins that are part of the complement system, also known as the complement c...

For years, Lou Gehrig has been recognized as both a face of ALS and a legend of Baseball. But, until now, he did not have an official day dedicated to him by the MLB, unlike some of his fellow legends like Jackie Robinson and Roberto Clemente. That’s where the Haberstrohs come in. Tom, Steve, and Chuck Haberstroh are three brothers, with two big shared passions – baseball, and ending A...

Today on Endpoints, we’re joined by Dr. Leigh Hochberg. He's the the Director of the Center for Neurotechnology and Neurorecovery at Mass General Hospital’s Department of Neurology and a neurologist in its Neurocritical Care and Stroke Services, a Professor of Engineering at Brown University, and the Director of the Veterans Affairs Center for Neurorestoration and Neurotechnology in Pr...

Today we’re joined by Lisa Cross Bonahoom. Lisa is a teacher, singer, actor, director, choreographer, and dancer who was diagnosed with ALS about three years ago. She brings us a story of how this disease has changed her life – but also how it’s inspired her to become an activist and fundraiser. It’s a story of how her family has inspired her to keep up the fight. And, espe...

Biomarkers are an important part of medical research and drug development. A biomarker is a broad term that describes some sort of measurable property of the body, especially one that can tell us something about a disease. Common examples are glucose levels for type one diabetes and blood pressure for hypertension. Today on Endpoints, ALS TDI CEO Dr. Steve Perrin joins us to talk about  ...