This California ALS Research Summit is the
first annual gathering of researchers, investigators, clinicians,
biotech companies, government representatives and patient advocates in
ALS and related fields in the State of California: (i) to help increase,
expedite and promote the amount and level of ALS and related research
done in California; and (ii) to foster networking, collaboration and
cooperation among investigators, their peers and their colleagues to
identify, develop and deliver new and effective treatments, ideas and,
ultimately, a cure for ALS.
Several factors have set the stage for
this unique program:
- The Prop. 71 ballot initiative establishing the
California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) and its $3
billion stem cell research fund was only the beginning, as stem cell
research in California is exploding;
- Senator Steinberg, now President pro Tem of the
California State Senate, (a) is the ALS champion in the California
Legislature, (b) sponsored two ALS bills (to support ALS research and to
foster ALS patient care and treatment), written by The ALS
Association's California ALS Advocacy Committee, which passed in 2008
and (c) has asked our group for a roadmap for doing novel and high
impact ALS research in California, which will provide the basis for
partnering with the state to further support ALS research in California
-- needless to say, any such roadmap could be used for private
fundraising purposes, as well; and
- A clinical research consortium (Pacific ALS
Consortium (PAC-10)) recently was formed by the 10 major ALS clinical
research sites in California; its members are poised to work together to
perform cutting edge ALS clinical trials in California.
The next step is this Summit, a two-day workshop to develop the roadmap with a strategic plan for jump-starting ALS research in California. This meeting will include international leaders in three areas of ALS research: stem cells; protein aggregation; molecular therapies (to include gene therapy, antisense oligonucleotides, anti-inflammatory compounds, and other neuroprotective agents). It also will include talks from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine about ALS research funding, as well as other topics. This meeting will surely help to move the field forward and stand as an important benchmark for future research.
The Summit is the product of the California ALS Research Network, an ad hoc group of experienced researchers, investigators and clinicians in ALS and related fields, as well as ALS patient advocates. The Network and Summit, in turn, are products of the advocacy efforts of the California ALS Advocacy Committee, which consists of the five California Chapters of The ALS Association. The Summit is supported by a generous gift from the Chevron Corporation and substantial gifts from other sponsors.
For a full discussion of how the Network and Summit came about, please click here.
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