The ALS Association is at the forefront of the global research effort to find treatments and a cure for ALS. We believe that innovation and collaboration will be the key to winning this important fight. Only by coming together with others around the world who are experts in their fields will we make significant progress. We know collaboration leads to progress.

We’d like to let you know about an exciting opportunity for innovation in ALS called the Springboard Challenge. The Springboard Challenge is a planning grant award sponsored by Partners HealthCare and the Wellcome Trust and which was announced at the World Neuroscience Innovation Forum in London on March 27.

Three awards (of $50,000 each) will be made to enable teams to get together around a specific solution in neurodegenerative diseases, including ALS, with the intention of seeking follow-on funding for implementation from other sources. Awards are not intended to fund biomedical research. If you would like to discuss and coordinate an ALS specific planning grant you can reach Lucie Bruijn, Ph.D., MBA, Chief Scientist, The ALS Association.

Please consider taking up the Challenge and applying for the award. Applications are due by June 1st, 2017. More details about the Springboard Challenge can be found in the links above (including selection criteria and application). Links to videos from the World Neuroscience Innovation Forum panels are found below.

World Neuroscience Innovation Forum

On March 27, nearly 400 leaders from the global neuroscience community, including academia, government, industry, non-profit, and investment sectors, gathered in London at the Francis Crick Institute for the inaugural World Neuroscience Innovation Forum. Hosted by Partners HealthCare, the Forum highlighted the future of R&D and patient care for those suffering from Alzheimer's disease and dementia, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease and other neurodegenerative and neuroinflammatory diseases. We're excited to share with you the videos of the panels and various features of the day - please click below to visit our YouTube channel.

Panels and Breakout Sessions

Session 1
Disease Modifying Therapies: Getting Over the Technology ThresholdSession 4
The Promise and Current Role of Gene and Cell Therapy as Treatments of Neurological Disease

Session 7
The Crisis We Want: Are Healthcare Systems Prepared for a Disease-Modifying Drug?

Session 2
Expanding the Diagnostic Spectrum: Tools, Technologies, and TracersSession 5
Next-Generation Therapies and Diagnostics: Big Data and Digital Health

Lunch Breakout 3
Depression and Neuroinflammation

Session 3
Neurodegeneration and Neuroinflammation: A Grand Unifying Theory for Drug Development?Session 6
Implementing Novel Models in Alzheimer's Trials: How Can We Transform the Cost-Benefit Equation for Trials?

Patient Interview

Fireside Chats

1:1 Fireside Chat with John Lechleiter1:1 Fireside Chat with Alfred Sandrock