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This edition of the ALS Newsletter is dedicated to clinical trial activities, first the ALS Clinical Trials Symposium and the initiation of the Minocycline clinical trial. Our regular readers know we normally try to provide a balance of research, clinical updates and future events discussion and not weight the publication on one topic. Yet given the success and excitement generated by the most recent ALS Clinical Trials Symposium initiated by Dr. Mitsumoto - hosted by the NIH and MDA, we opted to take a different approach this time. Similar to this idea, “differing ones approach” as it applies to ALS research in the clinical arena was a major theme of the symposium. Dr. Mitsumoto specifically invited select scientists from other disease processes (cancer, stroke AIDS etc.) in order to learn from their experiences, gain insight from them on current ALS trials and to spawn new ideas. As you will read in Margaret Wahl’s write up it was very stimulating. We anticipate the meeting will produce more research activity and dialogue in the future and will keep you posted. Action has already begun on establishing a national study group in ALS - unifying the clinical trialists on a national level. The Minocycline Clinical Trial in ALS is another clinical research activity here at Columbia’s ALS Center that we are excited to report on. Dr. Gordon, associate medical director at the Center, is the Principal Investigator and has provided an overview of the project. The trial is exciting for a few reasons; it is a National Institutes of Health sponsored project, it is a large multi-centered trial being coordinated by our ALS Center in collaboration with California Pacific Medical Center's ALS Center, and it provides an important opportunity to examine the potential efficacy of a new agent in the fight against ALS.
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On
a separate but important note, Marion Brandis, Nurse Clinician at the
ALS Center for more than 2 years is no longer with the Center. She has
taken a position as a neonatal and postpartum nurse in Manhattan. We thank
her for her time and commitment to the ALS patients, research and clinical
programming and send her only our best for her future endeavors.
