At the ALS Association, we are helping accelerate innovation and progress in the fight against ALS, and that starts with bringing new ideas and talent into ALS research. An exciting trend has emerged in recent years: approximately 80% of applications to our research funding programs now come from early-career or new investigators, including scientists from fields outside traditional ALS research.
This influx of fresh perspectives is essential for advancing our understanding of ALS and developing novel therapeutic approaches.
Our commitment to supporting emerging talent and cultivating a robust pipeline of innovative ideas is evident in the array of people and projects we fund. More than 75% of the grants we’ve awarded in the last three years have gone to early-career and new investigators. This approach ensures that the ALS research community continues to grow and thrive, integrating diverse perspectives and new expertise.
ALS Association Research Program Awardees
FY 2023 – 2025
Initiatives like our Milton Safenowitz Postdoctoral Fellowship Program are dedicated to getting talented early-career researchers to enter, and importantly, remain in the ALS field. Since it was established in 2004, the program has proudly supported more than 100 postdoctoral fellows, over 75% of which have stayed in ALS research.
The accomplishments of our Safenowitz Fellows demonstrate just how impactful early funding can be—not just on their research careers, but also on the entire ALS community. For example, in 2015, Dr. Kasper Roet was awarded a Safenowitz Fellowship to uncover more about the role of potassium channels in ALS and determine whether one (or more) of these channels could be a good potential target for developing new drugs.
What came out of this research was a drug candidate called QRL-101 (now in phase 1 clinical trials)—and the biotech company QurAlis.
"I think one of the things that the Safenowitz Fellowship really did for me is connecting me to the community, to the patient community, to other researchers, to other principal investigators, but also to other fellows, who are very promising scientists with very exciting new projects and other really exciting science that was coming up,” Dr. Roet shared in a recent interview. “It was really these interactions, these relationships, that build up over time by being really part of this community that we are working together with all of these people now.”
By fostering a pipeline of new scientists and expanding the ALS research community, we are focused on accelerating progress and discovering breakthroughs. We are proud to support these talented newcomers and are excited to see what fresh insight they will bring to the field.
Together, we’re making ALS livable until we can cure it.
Learn more about the research we fund HERE, or SUBSCRIBE to our newsletter, Research Matters, to receive monthly ALS research updates.
To continue to follow stories about people living with ALS in the community and learn more about the disease, follow our blog HERE.
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