Sean M. Healey & AMG Center for ALS at Mass General Awards 2024 Gupta Family Endowed Prize for Innovation in ALS Care to Team Gleason

The Sean M. Healey & AMG Center for ALS at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) awarded the 2024 Gupta Family Endowed Prize for Innovation in ALS Care to Team Gleason, an organization dedicated to serving individuals with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and empowering them to live purposeful lives.  

The prize was presented to the team during the 23rd Annual Northeast ALS Consortium (NEALS) Meeting by Dr. Merit Cudkowicz, Director of the Healey & AMG Center for ALS, and the Gupta family. 

The Gupta Family Endowed Prize for Innovation in ALS Care is a global prize to honor ground-breaking new approaches that lead to exceptional care for individuals living with ALS. This annual prize is awarded to a nominated team who has developed promising new approaches to improving care for people living with ALS. The goal of this prize is to encourage idea sharing, innovation, and forward thinking on scalable ongoing and ground-breaking projects that have directly improved ALS patient care. 

The selection committee, made up of members of the Gupta family, the Healey & AMG Center Scientific Advisory Council, the NEALS Peace Committee, and advisors who are living in ALS, agreed that Team Gleason demonstrates the core criteria of the award; providing exceptional care for those living with ALS and making groundbreaking strides in developing new ways to fight the disease. The organization works to provide those with ALS access to cutting-edge technology such as communication devices, synthetic voices, eye gaze technology, and home automation solutions, as well as equipment like shower chairs and portable power wheelchairs. Above all else, Team Gleason is committed to ensuring people with ALS can experience a degree of independence that would otherwise not be possible as a result of the disease. 

“We are proud to honor such a deserving organization; Team Gleason has made a profound impact on the ALS community,” said Merit Cudkowicz, M.D., MS.c., Director of the Healey & AMG Center, Chair of the Department of Neurology at MGH, and the Julieanne Dorn Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School. “We are grateful to the Gupta family to recognize the advancements being made in patient care and innovation for ALS.”  

Team Gleason was founded in 2011 by Steve Gleason, a former NFL special teams player for the New Orleans Saints, was diagnosed with ALS. Following his diagnosis, Steve, and his wife Michele Varisco Gleason founded Team Gleason with a focus on helping individuals with ALS “not just survive but thrive.” Since then, Team Gleason has provided over $50 million in adventure, technology, equipment, and care services to people living with ALS. The foundation strives to empower people with ALS and their families to fight back against the disease, and live their lives with purpose, with the mantra of “no white flags.” 

“At Team Gleason, we are driven by the belief that people living with ALS deserve more than just hope—they deserve access to innovative tools and technologies that allow them to live meaningful, independent lives,” said Blair Casey, Executive Director, Team Gleason. “This recognition from the Healey & AMG Center and the Gupta Family emphasizes the importance of collaboration and forward-thinking solutions in ALS care. We are honored to accept this award and remain committed to empowering individuals with ALS to thrive despite their challenges.” 

 For more information about the Sean M. Healey and AMG Center for ALS, please visit our website 

To learn more about the Gupta Family Award and previous winners, please click here 


Background on ALS 
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is the most prevalent adult-onset progressive motor neuron disease, affecting approximately 30,000 people in the U.S. and an estimated 500,000 people worldwide. ALS causes the progressive degeneration of motor neurons, resulting in muscle weakness and atrophy. There is an urgent need to understand the biology of ALS and to develop effective therapies. 
 
About the Sean M. Healey & AMG Center for ALS at Mass General 
 
At the Sean M. Healey & AMG Center for ALS at Mass General, we are committed to bringing together a global network of scientists, physicians, nurses, foundations, federal agencies, and people living with ALS, their loved ones, and caregivers to accelerate the pace of ALS therapy discovery and development. 
 
Launched in November 2018, the Healey & AMG Center, under the leadership of Merit Cudkowicz, MD and a Science Advisory Council of international experts, is reimagining how to develop and test the most promising therapies to treat the disease, identify cures and ultimately prevent it. 
 
With dozens of active clinical trials and lab-based research studies in progress right now, we are ushering in a new phase of ALS treatment and care. Together, we will find the cures.