Combination Therapy Showed Favorable Safety Profile in ALS 5/14/2024 A combination therapy of ciprofloxacin and celecoxib demonstrated a favorable safety profile for those with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, features Merit Cudkowicz, MD, MSc
CNM-AU8 Extends Patient Survival in 2 ALS Compassionate Use Studies 2/29/2024: Treatment with CNM-Au8 was shown to significantly prolong survival — relative to the natural history of the disease — among people with advanced amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) who took part in two expanded access programs (EAP), also known as compassionate use programs.
Nothing Else Matters: How coaching became a form of medicine for Patrick Behan | SC Featured 3/27/2023: In May of 2022 at just 34 years old, Patrick Behan, the head boys’ basketball coach at St. John's College High School in Washington DC, was diagnosed with ALS. He was given just a year to live. While adjusting to the diagnosis and the devastating effects that come with it, basketball has become a form of medicine for Patrick, as he looks to win his first championship in the most competitive high school basketball league in the country.
Supporting Efforts to PREVENT ALS 5/6/2022: The Smith Family Foundation offers a fundraising challenge to advance research to stop ALS before it starts.
Merit Cudkowicz Wins Rebecca Luker Courage Award 4/28/2022: Target ALS and Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma America presented Merit Cudkowicz, MD, MSc with the award in honor of her courageous spirit and positive impact for the ALS community.
HEALEY ALS Platform Trial Wins Morris ALS Principles Award 4/25/2022: The Morris ALS Principles award honored the HEALEY ALS Platform Trial team for their work to include people with ALS in planning and development of the trial, and for using Expanded Access Protocols to give more people access to potential therapies.
The Medical-Robotics Revolution 4/18/2022: Harvard Magazine covers advances in "soft robotics" for medicine and speaks with Sabrina Paganoni, MD, PhD about their potential for ALS treatment, especially in combination with developments from the BrainGate research led by Leich Hochberg, MD, PhD.
What Do ALS And War Have In Common? 3/8/2022: Forbes Magazine asks “What do ALS and War Have in Common?” and highlights a refugee assistance program called Cash for Refugees developed by Mass General Neurology intern Natasha Dukach.
London-based CERF Prizes Benefit U.S.-based Research 2/11/2022: ALS News Today covers the award of the CERF Medical Engineering Prize to scientists at Brown University, Harvard University, and Mass General who are creating “soft robotics” to improve arm and hand function in people with ALS.
Duluth-based Essentia Health, state Sen. David Tomassoni join national ALS trial 1/27/2022: The Minneapolis Star-Tribune covers the newest HEALEY ALS Platform Trial location, and the fact that state Senator David Tomassoni is taking part. Significant funding for the new trial location comes from local ALS advocacy Group Never Surrender, which is conducting a three-day snowmobile tour this weekend. The senator's participation at the new trial location and the funding event were also covered by NBC affiliate KBJR and ABC affiliate WDIO.
Pridopidine Arm of HEALEY ALS Platform Trial Fully Enrolled 1/10/2022: A fourth arm of the HEALEY ALS Platform Trial is now fully enrolled, moving the trial one step closer to delivering results about another experimental ALS treatment.
Tau Protein in Alzheimer’s Linked to ALS Mitochondrial Dysfunction 11/23/2021: An abnormal version of tau, a protein associated with Alzheimer’s disease, may contribute to the progression of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) by damaging mitochondria in neurons, according to a new study from Mass General Investigator Gahaleh Sadri-Vakili, PhD.
Early Access to CNM-Au8 Given to Patients Ineligible for HEALEY Trial 9/28/2021: ALS News Today covers efforts to enroll additional people with ALS in expanded access programs for an experimental ALS treatment, even when they do not qualify for participation in a clinical trial.
Former Competitive Swimmer Races Against the Clock for a Cure for ALS 8/2/2021: WTVQ profiles Sandra Marlowe, an award-winning swimmer now facing down a new opponent: ALS. Sandra is also a participant in the HEALEY ALS Platform Trial, and hopes that her experience can help others.
Official Lou Gehrig NFT Auction to Benefit ALS Charities 7/4/2021: Major League Baseball and digital collectible company Candy Digital unveiled baseball's first officially licensed NFT, commemorating Lou Gehrig’s “Luckiest Man” speech. Proceeds from the auction will benefit ALS charities including the Healey Center.
A Conversation Around ALS (Lou Gehrig Day) 6/2/2021: Oakland A’s Outfielder Stephen Piscotty and ESPN broadcaster Jon “Boog” Sciambi talk about ALS and Lou Gehrig Day with Healey Center Director Merit Cudkowicz, MD, MSc.
As M.L.B. Honors Lou Gehrig, It Shines a Spotlight on A.L.S. 6/1/2021: The New York Times spoke with Merit Cudkowicz, MD, MSc and patient advocate Gwen Petersen about Major League Baseball's fundraising and awareness efforts surrounding Lou Gehrig Day
Get Well With Dr. Shel – Advances in ALS Treatment 5/26/2021: As part of ALS Awareness Month, Merit Cudkowicz, MD, MSc appeared as a special guest on the Get Well With Dr. Shel podcast to discuss recent developments in ALS care and research
Tyler Decker, Working to #WipeOutALS April 2021: Carlsbad Magazine covers local surfer Tyler Decker, diagnosed with ALS at just 26 years old, and his efforts to raise money for research and treatment
Novel ALS Drug Continues to Show Survival Benefit 4/19/2021: Updated research presented at the American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting shows ongoing benefits of the experimental drug AMX0035 for both function and survival in ALS patients
2021 Clinical Research Forum: The CENTAUR Trial for ALS 3/24/2021: Sabrina Paganoni, MD, PhD explains the exciting results from the CENTAUR trial for ALS, a finalist in the Top 10 Clinical Research Awards from the Clinical Research Forum
AMX0035 Lowers Risk for Adverse Events, Death in Patients with ALS 3/22/2021: Healio covers ongoing results from the CENTAUR trial and its extension study, which are providing a growing pool of evidence that the experiemental ALS treatment may be safe and effective. Dr. Paganoni's presentation of the data at the annual MDA conference was also covered in ALS News Today
The Research and Work of NAM Inductee Merit Cudkowicz 1/5/2021: The Neurology.org podcast interviews Healey Center Director Merit Cudkowicz, MD, MSc about her career, recent breakthroughs and her induction into the National Academy of Medicine
2020
Target ALS Awards 4 Grants for Work Into Biomarker Discovery 12/21/2020: ALS News Today coverage of grants to support a collaboration between NeuroDex, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Johns Hopkins University that will investigate extracellular vesicles (EVs) as potential ALS biomarkers
COVID-19 Pandemic Creates New Roles for Advanced Practice Providers 12/17/2020: Mass General Advanced Practice Providers including APP Director and ALS Nurse Practitioner Darlene Sawicki, MSN, NP-BC write about how the APP team built their multidisciplinary COVID-19 response team in the first months of the pandemic
Frates Run Goes Virtual for 2020 12/10/2020: The Salem News covers the annual Frates Memorial 5k run to benefit the Healey Center, conducted virtually this year
NurOwn Fails to Slow Disease Progression in ALS Patients, Top-line Data Show 11/18/2020: Despite disappointing results from the largest group of patients, the NurOwn trial did show promise for some early-stage patients, and Merit Cudkowciz, MD, MSc says that “it is important to fully explore this finding"
New Data Shows Extended Survival for ALS Patients 11/9/2020: Spectrum News 1 (Ohio) profiles a local ALS patient and his experience in the recent CENTAUR ALS clinical trial, and speaks with Principal Investigator Sabrina Paganoni, MD, PhD about further research
Research Findings Show Potential Promise for Slowing Down ALS 10/2/2020: CBS 58 interviews Sabrina Paganoni, MD, PhD and Justin Klee, the co-founder and co-CEO of Amylyx Pharmaceuticals, about ongoing research into a potential new ALS treatment
100 People Transforming Business 9/10/2020: Merit Cudkowicz, MD, MSc, Mass General Chief of Neurology and Director of the Healey Center for ALS, is recognized as one of 10 leaders transforming health care
Upstarts 6/2/2020: Medicine @ Brown profiles the Brown University alumni who founded Amylyx, and how support from and collaboration with Rudy Tanzi, PhD and Merit Cudkowicz, MD, MMSc helped bring the pharmaceutical startup's first drug to a successful clinical trial
Longtime AMG chief Sean Healey dies at 59 after suffering from ALS 5/28/2020: The Boston Globe reports on the passing of Sean Healey, and quotes Merit Cudkowicz, MD, MSc about him: “He became a good friend and a partner in this fight against ALS. He’s a remarkable man. It wasn’t just about giving money. It was his intellect, it was his business acumen.”
The Future of ALS Clinical Trials 5/21/2020: The Connecting ALS podcast hosts Merit Cudkowicz, MD, MSc, to discuss COVID-19 and the Healey ALS Platform Trial
Inside Nanci Ryder’s Battle with ALS 4/13/2020: Brain & Life magazine follows the legendary Hollywood publicist, her friends Renée Zellweger and Courteney Cox, and Merit Cudkowicz, MD, MSc, as they battle ALS
Survivor: Winners at War Against ALS 3/10/2020: On CBS's Survivor, former contestnat Jonathan Penner returns to the reality show island to help raise awareness - and funding - for the fight against ALS. He's also designed some Survivor-themed t-shirts to sell, and is donating a portion of the proceeds to the Healey Center for ALS
ALS Drug Works in Study, Researchers Say 12/17/2019: The Wall Street Journal quotes Merit Cudkowicz, MD, and Sabrina Paganoni, MD, PhD, who are leading a study on a new ALS treatment showing strong results in phase 2 trials. This research is also covered by Reuters and NeurologyLive
NIH Renews NeuroNEXT for Neurological Clinical Research 7/24/2018: NeuroNEXT, a research program that helps streamline Phase II clinical trials for brain disorders, has been renewed for five more years, with several new centers joining the program
Biomarkers to Accelerate ALS Therapy Development 5/14/2018: A video interview with Dr. Merit Cudkowicz, Chief of Neurology at Mass General Hospital, discussing biomarkers that can help to diagnose patients quicker and target individualized treatments to patients.
Innovations in Care for Patients with ALS 5/14/2018: A video interview with Dr. Merit Cudkowicz, Chief of Neurology, discussing innovations in care for patients with ALS, such as the House Call program and TeleNeurology.
Innovations in ALS Clinical Trials at Mass General 4/26/2018: A video interview with Dr. Merit Cudkowicz, Chief of Neurology at Mass General Hospital, discussing innovations in ALS clinical trials since she started in the field in 1994.
sALSa for a Cure Launches 4/3/2018: The family and colleagues of a Mastercard executive affected by ALS are salsa dancing their way toward more advanced treatments spearheaded by Mass General and sALSa For a Cure
Dr. Cudkowicz at the Pinnacle Awards 2/7/2018: Dr. Merit Cudkowicz is honored with the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce Pinnacle Award for Achievement In The Professions
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