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DAY 1: Thursday, January 22, 2026
10:00 AM – 1:00 PM CHECK IN AND REGISTRATION
12:00 PM – 1:00 PM WELCOME LUNCH
SUMMIT SESSIONS
1:00 PM – 1:10 PM Introduction
Clive Svendsen, PhD, Professor and Executive Director, BOG Regenerative Medicine Institute, Kerry and Simone Vickar Family Foundation Distinguished Chair in Regenerative Medicine, Cedars-Sinai; Chair, ALS Network Scientific Advisory Committee
Martina Wiedau, MD, Regional Co-Chair, ALS Network Research Summit, Co-Director, Professor, Department of Neurology at UCLA, Member, Brain Research Institute UCLA
Leslie Thompson, PhD, Regional Co-Chair, ALS Network Research Summit, Donald Bren Professor, Psychiatry & Human Behavior School of Medicine and Neurobiology and Behavior School of Biological Sciences, Co-Director of the Sue and Bill Gross Stem Cell Center at UCI
Sheri Strahl, MPH, MBA, President & CEO, ALS Network
1:10 PM – 1:40 PM OPENING PLENARY
Bryan Traynor, MD, PhD (National Institute of Health)
Proteomic biomarkers for ALS: diagnostic and prognostic insights
1:40 PM – 1:50 PM DISCUSSION
SESSION I: ALS Biomarkers I: Bridging Research and Clinical Practice
Chair: Bob Bowser, PhD
1:50 PM – 2:10 PM Jeff Rosenfeld, MD PhD (Loma Linda University) “What Clinicians Need from ALS Biomarkers and What Patients Need from Us”
2:10 PM – 2:30 PM Alex Sette, Dr. Biol. Sci. (La Jolla Institute for Immunology) “Autoimmune response to C9orf72 protein in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis”
2:30 PM – 2:50 PM Noah Zaitlen, PhD (UCLA). “Development of cell-free DNA Epigenetic Biomarkers for ALS”
2:50 PM – 3:10 PM DISCUSSION
3:10 PM – 3:30 PM BREAK
SESSION II: What Can One Learn from Other Neurodegenerative Disorders?
Chair: Steve Finkbeiner, MD PhD
3:30 PM – 3:50 PM Leslie Thompson, PhD (UCI) “Unexpected Convergence: TDP-43 Pathology in Huntington’s Disease”
3:50 PM – 4:10 PM Dan Child, MD PhD (University of Washington), “Fashionably LATE: age-related TDP-43 neuropathology and its frequent association with other neurodegenerative diseases”
4:10 PM – 4:30 PM Rohit Pappu, PhD (WASHU) “Biophysical studies of proteins that cause ALS”
4:30 PM – 4:50 PM DISCUSSION
SESSION III: INDUSTRY UPDATES I
4:50 PM – 5:05 PM AcuraStem: Justin Ichida, PhD & Wen-Hsuan Chang, PhD “Development of SYF2 antisense oligonucleotide as a treatment for
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis”
5:05 PM – 5:20 PM Neuralink: Matthew MacDougall, MD “Neuralink Trials: Restoring Speech and Device Control through Neural Interfaces”
5:20 PM – 5:35 PM Neuvivo Inc.: Mike McGrath, MD PhD “Regulation of innate immune activation with NP001 for treatment of slowly progressive ALS”
5:35 PM – 5:50 PM Spinogenix: Peter Vanderklish, PhD “Phase 2a clinical trial results for Tazbentetol (SPG302) in ALS Participants”
5:50 PM – 7:00 PM ALS NETWORK RESEARCH SUMMIT COCKTAIL HOUR AND POSTER PRESENTATIONS
Day 2: Friday January 23, 2026
7:30 AM – 8:30 AM BREAKFAST
SESSION IV: GENE THERAPY
Chair: Martina Wiedau, MD
8:30 AM – 8:50 AM Laura Ferraiuolo, PhD (Insmed)
8:50 AM – 9:10 AM Gene Yeo, PhD, MBA (UCSD) “RNA-targeting strategies in ALS”
9:10 AM – 9:30 AM Beverly Davidson, PhD (CHOP) “Advancing next generation gene therapies for neurodegenerative disorders”
9:30 AM – 9:50 AM DISCUSSION
9:50 AM – 10:10 AM BREAK
SESSION V: ADVANCED MODELS OF ALS
Chair: Gene Yeo, PhD, MBA
10:10 AM – 10:30AM Andras Lakatos MD, PhD (University of Cambridge) “Next Generation Human Corticospinal-Myosphere Organoids For ALS Research”
10:30 AM – 10:50 AM Clive Svendsen, PhD (Cedars-Sinai) “Modeling ALS using organ chip systems and single cell technologies”
10:50 AM – 11:10 AM Layla Starr, PhD (Synapticure)“Human 3D Brain Spheroids for ALS Disease Modeling and Therapeutic Screening”
11:10 PM – 11:30 PM DISCUSSION
SESSION VI –PRECISION MEDICINE APPROACHES
Chair: Leslie Thompson, PhD
11:30 AM – 11:45 AM Neil Shneider MD, PhD (Columbia) “Silence ALS Update”
11:45 AM – 12:00 PM Merit Cudkowicz, MD, MSc (MGH) “MyMatch - Using biomarkers to drive clinical trial design and precision health”
12:00 PM – 12:10 PM DISCUSSION
12:10 PM – 12:20 PM GROUP PHOTO
12:20 PM - 1:30 PM LUNCH AND POSTER PRESENTATIONS
SESSION VII: CLINICAL TRIAL UPDATES featuring WALS
Chairs: Martina Wiedau, MD PhD, Jill Goslinga, MD, MPH, Stephen Johnson, MD
1:30 PM – 1:50 PM Jess Rabourn CFA (WideTrial, Inc) & Björn E. Oskarsson, M.D. (MAYO; WideTrial, Inc) “SEANOBI-ALS Expanded Access Program”
1:50 PM – 2:10 PM Fred Grossman (Coya Therapeutics)
2:10 PM – 2:30 PM Daniel B. Rubin, M.D., Ph.D. (MGH) “Clinical Translation of Brain Computer Interfaces: Future Directions in Clinical Trials”
2:30 PM – 2:50 PM Merit Cudkowicz MD, MSc (Prilenia) “PREVAiLS trial update”
2:50 PM – 3:00 PM DISCUSSION
3:00 PM – 3:15 PM BREAK
SESSION VIII: INDUSTRY UPDATES II
3:15 PM – 3:30 PM Trace Neuroscience: Eric Green, CEO “UNC13A Restoration as a Treatment for People with ALS”
3:30 PM – 3:45 PM Corcept: Sophia Majeed “Update on Dazucorilant ALS Program”
3:45 PM – 4:00 PM Biogen: Steve Garafalo “The development of tofersen for SOD1-ALS and lessons learned for future trial designs in ALS”
4:00 PM – 4:30 PM Special Plenary Lecture
Don Cleveland, MD (UCSD)
TDP-43 in neurodegeneration: phase separation, nuclear loss, aggregation, and therapy
4:30 PM – 4:45 PM DISCUSSION
4:45 PM – 5:00 PM Announcement of the Fred Fisher Excellence in Research Award and Barber Awards Presented by Clive Svendsen, PhD (Barber Awards) and Sheri Strahl, MPH, MBA
5:00 PM – 6:00 PM CLOSED SESSION – ALS Network Scientific Advisory Committee Meeting
FREE EVENING
DAY 3: Saturday, January 24, 2026
8:00 AM – 9:00 AM BREAKFAST
9:00 AM – 9:20 AM Spotlight on the 2026 Barber ALS Research Award Winners
SESSION IX: From Infection to Inflammation: Viral Involvement in ALS
Chair: Richard Smith, MD & Nancy Sicotte, MD
9:20 AM – 9:40 AM Eain Murphy, PhD (SUNY), “Neurotropic Herpesvirus HSV-1 as a potential etiological agent of Alzheimer’s Disease”
9:40 AM - 10:00 AM Nancy Sicotte, MD (Cedars-Sinai), “Viral infections as a trigger for multiple sclerosis: Is EBV the answer?”
10:00 AM - 10:20 AM Avindra Nath, MD (NIH), “Endogenous retroviruses as a therapeutic target for ALS”
10:20 AM – 10:40 AM DISCUSSION
10:40 AM – 10:55 AM BREAK
SESSION X: Nucleocytoplasmic Transport Defects in ALS: From Mechanisms to Pathology
Chair: Clive Svendsen, PhD
10:55 AM – 11:15 AM Jeff Rothstein, MD, PhD & Alyssa Coyne, PhD (JHU) “Sporadic ALS: Origins at the Nuclear Pore and Nuclear Transport”
11:15 AM – 11:35 AM Steve Finkbeiner, PhD (Gladstone) “Elucidating TDPpathology and neuronal phenotypes in patient disease models and in patient
tissue with AI”
11:35 AM – 11:55 AM Aaron D. Gitler, PhD (Stanford University) “Unmasking cryptic TDP-43 targets in ALS”
11:55 AM – 12:15 PM DISCUSSION
12:15 PM – 12:30 PM CLOSING REMARKS
2027 Planning
Clive Svendsen, PhD, Cedars-Sinai; ALS Network Scientific Advisory Committee Chair
Sheri Strahl, MPH, MBA, President & CEO, ALS Network
Sarah Dougherty, PhD, Senior Director of Research, ALS Network
12:30 PM TO GO LUNCH
Schedule and speakers subject to change without notice.
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