ABOUT US
Our Mission
Leading the fight to treat and cure ALS through global research and nationwide advocacy while also empowering people with Lou Gehrig’s Disease and their families to live fuller lives by providing them with compassionate care and support.
About The ALS Association
The ALS Association is the only organization leading the fight to discover a cure for ALS from all angles - through robust research, care, and public policy programs. Our solution is an integrated approach that will lead us to viable treatments and cure for this terrible disease.
RESEARCH | The ALS Association is at the forefront of the global research effort funding over $138 million in research and clinical management projects. To maximize results, The Association channels our funding, made possible through the generous support of donors, into global research projects focused on six tightly-related areas:
- Identifying ALS genes
- Understanding disease mechanisms
- Using stem cells for disease modeling and therapy testing
- Finding disease biomarkers
- Developing therapies
- Improving clinical trials
CARE SERVICES | The ALS Association helps patients and families cope with the day to day challenges of living with ALS by providing information, resources, and referrals to many sources, including a wide variety of community services through our nationwide chapter network.
Our nationwide network of ALS Association Certified Centers of Excellence provide state-of-the-art, multi-disciplinary ALS care and services in a supportive atmosphere with an emphasis on hope and quality of life. To become certified as one of these centers of excellence, an ALS clinic must achieve national prominence, meet rigorous clinical care standards, and pass a comprehensive site inspection.
PUBLIC POLICY | Our nationwide network plays a integral role in advocating for increased public and private support of ALS research and patient care. The ALS Association’s public policy efforts in Washington D.C. have raised the profile of ALS by working with the White House, Congress, National Institutes of Health, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Food and Drug Administration, Department of Defense, Department of Veterans Affairs, Social Security Administration, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
About ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease)
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that slowly robs a person of the ability to walk, speak, swallow and, eventually breathe. With no known cause or cure, a person can expect to live typically 2 to 5 years from the time of diagnosis.
ALS has no racial, ethnic or socioeconomic boundaries and in only 10% of cases there is a family history of ALS. Today, there are approximately 30,000 people in the US living with ALS and 5,600 people are diagnosed each and every year in the US.
