Outreach: Special thanks from visiting neurologists: To the Staff at the ALS Center, From September 11th to 15th, Dr. Marla Morgan and I, Dr. Angela Young, had the opportunity to visit to the Eleanor & Lou Gehrig MDA/ALS Research Center at Columbia University. We are neurologists at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and share a special interest in establishing an ALS center in Birmingham. We would like to express our appreciation to all of the staff at Columbia for introducing us to their multidisciplinary approach of treating ALS patients. We certainly learned a lot from our experience at your center. It was very valuable to observe the day-to-day operations of the ALS multidisciplinary clinic. Your clinic is one of the most comprehensive I have seen with the collaboration of therapists, social workers, nutritionists, pulmonologists, nurses, and neurologists. The patients really seem to appreciate this comprehensive approach. And with the wrap up meeting at the end of the day, the individualized care plans were put in motion by the time the patients left the office. In addition, our meetings with the clinical trial office and data coordinating center staff, the ALS research project coordinators, and research pharmacy staff, helped to round out our understanding of what is needed to emulate the research and care of such a unique patient population. This experience has certainly served as an inspiration for us as we work to create a multidisciplinary ALS center at the University of Alabama. Finally, we would like to specifically thank Drs. Mitsumoto, Gordon and Kaufmann for their hospitality and generosity. Sincerely Yours, Angela Young, MD Instructor of Neurology University of Alabama at Birmingham.