News5 Minute ReadDec | 8 | 2024
Sean M. Healey & AMG Center for ALS at Mass General awards sixth annual Sean M. Healey International Prize for Innovation in ALS to Leigh Hochberg, M.D., Ph.D. & the BrainGate Consortium Team
The team consists of 12 Principal Investigators including Dr. Hochberg, across five institutions:
- Leigh Hochberg, MD, PhD, Massachusetts General Hospital, Brown University, and VA Providence Healthcare, USA
- Nicholas Au Yong, MD, PhD, Emory University, USA
- David Brandman, MD, PhD, FRCSC, University of California, Davis, USA
- Sydney Cash, MD, PhD, Massachusetts General Hospital, USA
- John Donoghue, PhD, Brown University, USA
- Jaimie Henderson, MD, Stanford University School of Medicine, USA
- Chethan Pandarinath, PhD, Emory University, USA
- Dan Rubin, MD, PhD, Massachusetts General Hospital, USA
- John Simeral, PhD, Brown University and VA Providence Healthcare, USA
- Sergey Stavisky, PhD, University of California, Davis, USA
- Frank Willett, PhD, Stanford University, USA
- Ziv Williams, MD, Massachusetts General Hospital, USA
The prize was presented to the team during the 35th International Symposium on ALS/MND in Montreal, Quebec by Merit Cudkowicz, MD, MSc, Director of the Healey & AMG Center at MGH.
The BrainGate team is developing groundbreaking Brain Computer Interfaces (BCIs) to restore communication, mobility and independence in a variety of neurological diseases including ALS, spinal cord injury, stroke. The investigational BrainGate system includes a sensor which is implanted into the brain to monitor brain activity and convert the intention of the user into computer commands. Brain signals are decoded by software and used to control an external device, such as a robotic arm or a computer cursor. This technology can allow an individual with paralysis to manipulate objects (such as moving a robotic arm or using a computer) using only their intended movements, thus "turning thought into action." The multi-institutional BrainGate team can also transmit commands from a human brain to a computer using a percutaneous, wireless system, and has been conducting its research with clinical trial participants in their place of residence – testing the device where it needs to work most. The BrainGate clinical trials are ongoing.
“Our BrainGate team is deeply honored to receive the Healey International Prize. This incredible recognition highlights both the progress that can emerge from collaborative, multidisciplinary research, and the broad potential for implantable BCIs to maintain or restore lost neurologic function for people with ALS or other forms of paralysis,” said Dr. Hochberg“We dedicate this honor to our extraordinary research participants whose insights guide us at every step, and we feel every day the urgency of developing technologies that will enable intuitive, fast, fluent communication for people with severe speech and motor impairments.”
“Dr. Hochberg and the entire BrainGate team have created something that will have a deeply profound impact on the lives of those affected by ALS and neurodegenerative disease,” said Cudkowicz, who is also the Chair of Neurology at MGH. “This pioneering work represents a monumental leap forward in ALS research and care, creating a beacon of hope for patients and families. We look forward to seeing the transformative impact of their work on the future of neurological treatment and rehabilitation."
The annual Sean M. Healey International Prize for Innovation in ALS is a global prize celebrating excellence in research for a team of investigators who catalyze exceptional discoveries leading to a transformative advance in therapy development in ALS. To learn more about this $50,000 USD prize and how to nominate a team, click here.
For more information about the Sean M. Healey & AMG Center for ALS, please visit the website.
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.