Posted - 10/12/2007 : 12:09:28
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I just wanted to update the forum community on the latest addition to the speakers at our upcoming leadership summit. I’ve mentioned previously Hans Keirstead and Dale Lange – in addition, Dr. Ray Onders will be talking about his diaphragm pacing clinical trial which I think every patient should investigate as it seems to have real promise of providing benefit. Below is our media release where his talk is mentioned:

ALS RESEARCHERS TO SHARE IDEAS WITH EACHOTHER AND PATIENTS DURING EVENT AT MUSEUM OF SCIENCE
The world’s leading translational ALS research center, The ALS Therapy Development Institute, to host event open to the public
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. October 15, 2007 — The ALS Therapy Development Institute (ALS TDI) announced three speakers to present at its upcoming Leadership Summit on November 2, 2007, at the Museum of Science in Boston. Hans Keirstead, Ph.D. of the California Stem Cell Institute, Dale Lange, M.D. of the Mt. Sinai Hospital School of Medicine in New York and Ray Onders, M.D. of University Hospitals of Cleveland will each provide separate presentations regarding their efforts to develop treatments for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis — ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease. “This event was created three years ago as a place where scientists working on solving the ALS problem could come together and present their material directly to patients,” said Sean Scott, president of ALS TDI and host of the Summit.

Dr. Hans Keirstead will provide a talk entitled, “Human Embryonic Stem Cell Derived Motor Neurons for the Treatment of ALS.” He is the Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board of the California Stem Cell Institute, Inc., Co-Director of the Sue & Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center and an Associate Professor of Neurobiology at the University of California-Irvine.

Dr. Ray Onders has developed an innovative way to stimulate, or “pace”, a person’s diaphragm, a crucial muscle involved in respiration. ALS causes muscles to atrophy, or waste away. Dr. Onders’ procedure is considered minimally invasive and is currently being investigated through clinical trials. The procedure has been performed on several dozen ALS patients to date. His presentation at the summit is entitled, “Diaphragm Pacing in ALS: What we have learned and where we are going.”

ALS TDI is the leader in “translational research”, which is a comprehensive approach to take treatments from the lab bench to a patient’s bedside. One of the last steps a potential treatment takes before reaching patients is clinical trial. Dr. Lange conducts such trials at Mt. Sinai Hospital and is an Associate Professor, Neurology / Neuromuscular Diseases at the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine. Dr. Lange’s presentation for the Leadership Summit is entitled, “Pyrimethamine lowers SOD1 levels in Familial ALS: A Case Report of Clinical Effect.”

Tours of the ALS TDI research lab, one of the largest research centers of its kind, are available on Thursday, November 1 between the hours of 1:30PM and 5:30PM. The Leadership Summit at the Museum of Science begins at 9:00AM on Friday, November 2, 2007 with presentations from Steve Perrin, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer of ALS TDI and Sharon Hesterlee, Ph.D., VP of Translational Research for the MDA. The event continues with remarks from Augie Nieto, Chairman of the Board of ALS TDI and founder of Augie’s Quest, MDA’s ALS research initiative, via a video presentation during lunch. Drs. Lange, Onders and Keirstead’s presentations are scheduled to begin at 2:15PM on Friday, November 2 in the Skyline Room at the museum.

Space is limited and pre-registration is required. There is no cost to attend any portion of the Leadership Summit. For a full agenda or to register, please



John McCarty, PhD
Treatment Investigator,
ALS Therapy Development Institute
http://www.als.net/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1978