November 13, 14 & 15th, 2024

Together from afar! 100% via Zoom to allow anyone from anywhere in the world to attend at no cost and without the impact of travel.

7TH ANNUAL ALS RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM

Uniting researchers, clinicians and individuals living with ALS from around the world for three days of sharing important ALS research and hope.

This Symposium is one of the best that I’ve ever attended in all the ten years that I’ve been working in ALS. Thank you for all your hard work on such an outstanding and important meeting
— commented by an ALS researcher during the 2023 Symposium

Our annual symposium is hosted by our ALS ONE research team: Dr. Robert Brown, MD, DPhil, of UMass Memorial Medical School; Dr’s Merit Cudkowicz, MD, MSc, James Berry, MD, MPH, and Sabrina Paganoni, MD, PhD, of the Sean M Healey & AMG Center for ALS at Massachusetts General Hospital; and Dr. Fernando Vieira, MD, of The ALS Therapy Development Institute. This year’s symposium promises to be a robust and informative forum to discuss and review current research that is underway across the globe to help uncover therapeutic options leading to an ultimate cure for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). We believe that we are stronger when we are sharing together and our annual conference has proven to be a tremendous forum to do just that.

Last year’s Symposium, held November 16-18th 2023, was an enormous success with over 900 registered attendees from 35 countries! Links to ALL RECORDINGS OF ALL SEGMENTS AND PRESENTATIONS from our 2023 Symposium and our 2022 Symposium, are located under each talk title/speaker name on the tabs above on this website.

UNITY BRINGS US CLOSER TO A WORLD WITHOUT ALS

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UNITY BRINGS US CLOSER TO A WORLD WITHOUT ALS ⬆️

Hosted along with ALS ONE’s Research Team:

DAY 1: November 13, 2024

Keynote Speakers

Renowned Keynote speakers will give presentations and share insight on many of today’s most relevant and important topics in the world of ALS research.

Below is our full lineup of Day 1’s Speakers and Moderators.

DAY 1: NOV. 13 (Keynote Speaker Day) all times EST

10:00am-10:15am: Opening Remarks:

Dr. Merit Cudkowicz, MD, MSc

Jennifer DiMartino, Executive Director of ALS ONE

Chuck and Nicole Johnson, family living with ALS.

 

Morning Session: CURRENT STATE OF ALS TRIALS.

10:15 – 12:00: Clinical Trials landscape overview.

Moderator: Dr. Sabrina Paganoni, MD, PhD

 

10:15am – 10:30am (15 min)

Speaker: Dr. Sabrina Paganoni, MD, PhD

Talk Title:

 

10:30am-10:45am (15 min)

Speaker: Dr. Jeremy Shefner, MD, PhD, FAAN

Talk Title: Outcome Measures in ALS: Newer Possibilities and Old Ones Reconsidered

 

10:45am – 11:00am (15 min)

Speaker: Dr. Melanie Quintana, PhD

Talk Title: Evidence-Based Clinical Trial Design in ALS

           

11:00am – 11:15am (15 min)

Speaker: Dr. James Berry, MD, MPH

Talk Title: An overview of the ALS clinical research consortium called Access for All in ALS (ALL ALS)

 

11:15am – 11:30am (15 min)

Speaker: Dr. Jaime Raymond, MPH

Talk Title: National Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) Registry: Identification of ALS Risk Factors.

 

11:30am-11:45am (15 min)

Speaker: Dr. Stephanie Fradette, PharmD

Talk Title: How to use Neurofilament as a tool in ALS clinical trials.

 

11:45am-12:10pm (25 Min): PANEL DISCUSSION OF MORNING SPEAKERS

Moderator: Dr. Sabrina Paganoni, MD, PhD

                       

12:15pm – 12:45pm: 30 MIN LUNCH/BREAK

 

Afternoon Session:  12:45 – 4:30pm NEW APPROACHES TO UNDERSTANDING SPORADIC ALS.

Moderator: Dr. Robert Brown, MD, DPhil

 

 12:45pm – 1:10pm (20 min talk + 5 min Q&A)

Speaker: Dr. Ammar Al-Chalabi, PhD 

Talk Title: The multistep hypothesis of ALS.

 

1:10pm – 1:35p (20 min talk + 5 min Q&A)

Speaker: Dr. Eran Hornstein, PhD 

Talk Title: miRNAs in ALS: mechanism, diagnosis and therapy development.

 

1:35pm – 2:00p (20 min talk + 5 min Q&A)

Speaker: Dr. Justin Ichida, PhD 

Talk Title: Using iPSCs to model sporadic ALS and evaluate therapeutic strategies.

 

2:00pm – 2:25p (20 min talk + 5 min Q&A)

Speaker: Dr. Eva Feldman, MD, PhD 

Talk Title: The ALS Exposome: Where Science Meets Patient Care

 

2:25pm-2:40pm: 15 MIN BREAK

 

2:40pm – 3:05pm (20 min talk + 5 min Q&A)

Speaker: Dr. Zinan Zhou, PhD

Talk Title: Somatic mosaicism in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal dementia.

 

3:05pm – 3:30pm (20 min talk + 5 min Q&A)

Speaker: Dr. Dame Pamela Shaw, DBE, MBBS, MD, FRCP, FMedSci, FAAN, FANA, FAAAS

Talk Title: Subclassification and therapeutic approaches for sporadic ALS.

 

 3:30p-3:45p: 15 MIN BREAK

 

3:45p – 4:30p (45 min panel discussion)

Panel Discussion with afternoon speakers

Moderator: Dr. Robert Brown, MD, DPhil


DAY 2: November 14, 2024

Industry Presentations

A CALL FOR ABSTRACTS went out to the public from June 2024 until August 31, 2024 for researchers who were interested in speaking on Industry Day (November 14, 2024) during our 7th Annual ALS Research Symposium about an ALS treatment that they or their company/ institute/pharma has in development.

Industry Day Agenda (all times are EST):

9:00am – 9:10am: Dr. James Berry, MD, MPH, Jennifer DiMartino

9:10 - 9:30am: The Lalji Student Scholar Award presentation: Anushka Sanyal, undergrad student studying Human Biology at Stanford University. Presented by Dr. Ghazaleh Sadri-Vakili, MS, PhD , Assistant Professor of Neurology at the Harvard Medical School and Assistant in Neuroscience at the Massachusetts General Hospital.

Session 1: 1 Hour & 20 min. Each presentation: 20 minutes in total w/Q&A.

Moderator: Dr. James Berry, MD, MPH

9:30 – 9:50: Neurizon Therapeutics (formerly PharmAust)

  • Title: Exploring the Benefits of mTOR Inhibition in Patients with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.

o   Speaker: Dr Michael Thurn, Managing Director

9:50 – 10:10: Zydus Lifesciences

  • Title: A phase 2, proof-of-concept, placebo controlled, randomized, multicenter, doubleblind study of Usnoflast (ZYIL1) to evaluate the efficacy, safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamics in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

o   Speaker: Dr. Maulik S. Doshi, MD, DM, General Manager Clinical Research and Development

10:10 – 10:30: Neurosense

  • Title: Shifting the PARADIGM: PrimeC, an Oral Candidate for ALS, Demonstrates Safety, Efficacy, and Target Engagement Biomarkers in a 12-Month, Phase 2b Trial.

o   Speaker: Dr. Shiran Zimri, PhD, VP of R&D and Dr. Merit Cudkowicz, MD, MSc

10:30 – 10:50: Kadimastem

  • Title: Safety and efficacy of first-in-man intrathecal injection of human astrocytes (AstroRx®) in ALS patients: Preclinical and phase I/IIa clinical trial results.

o   Speaker: Dr. Kfir Molakandov PhD, VP Research and Development

 

BREAK: 10:50-11:00 (10 min)

 Session 2: 1 Hour & 20 min. Each presentation: 20 minutes in total w/Q&A.

Moderator: Dr. James Berry, MD, MPH

11:00 – 11:20: PLL Therapeutics

  • Title: A new diagnostic and therapy paradigm for ALS.

o   Speaker: Dr. Jean-Pascal Zambaux, CEO

11:20 – 11:40: Aclipse Therapeutics

  • Title: M102, an Nrf2 and HSF1 activator, entering Phase 1 for the treatment of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.

o   Speaker: Dr. Ira Kalfus, MD, Chief Medical Officer

11:40 – 12:00pm: Mitochon Pharmaceuticals

  • Title: Micro-doses of Mitochondrial uncoupler MP101 in hSOD1 G93A Provides the First Ever Small Molecule with Functional Recovery from Paralysis and Hints that ALS is a Solvable Problem.

o   Speaker: Dr. John G. Geisler, PhD, CSO

12:00 – 12:20: Spinogenix

  • Title: Clinical advancement of SPG302 as a first-in-class synaptic regenerative therapy for ALS.

o   Speaker: Dr. Peter Vanderklish, PhD, CSO

 

BREAK/LUNCH 12:20 – 1pm.

 

Session 3: 1 Hour & 20 min. Each presentation: 20 minutes in total w/Q&A.

 Moderator: Dr. Fernando Vieira, MD

1:00 – 1:20:  Acelot

  • Title: Novel oral small molecule for sporadic ALS treats both gain- and loss-of-function TDP-43 pathology, restores cryptic mis-splicing in vitro and extends survival and decreases NfL in vivo.

o   Speaker: Dr. Katie Planey PhD, MBA

1:20 – 1:40:  Modality.ai

  • Title: Multimodal Speech Biomarkers for Remote Monitoring of ALS Disease Progression.

o   Speaker: Dr. David "DSO" Suendermann-Oeft, PhD, CEO

1:40 – 2:00OrphAI Therapeutics

  • Title: OrphAI Therapeutics, Apilimod dimesylate development in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.

o   Speakers: Suma Babu, MBBS, MPH, Co-director of the Neurological Clinic Research Institute at Massachusetts General Hospital and Principal Investigator of Phase 2a trial of AIT-101 in C9orf72 ALS; Brigette Roberts, MD, CEO OrphAI Therapeutics Inc.

2:00 – 2:20: Transposon Therapeutics

  • Title: A Phase 2A study of TPN-101, a nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor, in patients with C9ORF72-related ALS/FTD.

o   Speaker: Dr. Andrew Satlin, MD, Chief Medical Officer, Transposon.

 

BREAK: 2:20 – 2:40pm (20 min)

 

Session 4: 1 Hour & 40 min. Each presentation: 20 minutes in total w/Q&A.

Moderator: Dr. Fernando Vieira, MD

 2:40 – 3:00: Eikonizo Therapeutics

  • Title: Development of a highly selec3ve CNS-penetrant small molecule HDAC6 inhibitor for the treatment of ALS and companion PET imaging technology to measure in vivo target occupancy.

o   Speaker: Dr. Tonya Gilbert, PhD. Executive Director of Translational Research

3:00 – 3:20: Leal Therapeutics

  • ·Title: Development of LTX-002, an ASO for the treatment of ALS.

o   Speaker: Dr. Asa Abeliovich, CEO and Founder, Leal Therapeutics

3:20 – 3:40: UniQure

  • Title: A Phase 1/2, Multicenter Study to Evaluate the Safety, Tolerability, and Exploratory Efficacy of Intrathecally Administered Gene Therapy AMT-162 in Patients with SOD1 Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (SOD1-ALS).

o   Speaker: Dr. Brenda Vicenzi, Executive Director, Clinical Development

3:40 – 4:00: Arbor Biotechnologies

  • Title: Gene Editing with a Type V CRISPR-Cas Enzyme Disrupting the Aberrant Splicing of STMN2 as a Potential Treatment for ALS.

o   Speaker: Dr. Priscilla Negraes, PhD, Associate Director CNS Therapies.

BREAK: 4:00 – 4:10pm (10 min)

4:10 – 4:30: Amylyx Pharmaceuticals

  • Title: Amylyx Update on Development of AMX0114, an Antisense Oligonucleotide Targeting Calpain-2.

o   Speaker: Dr. Lauren Kett, MD, PhD; Head, Medical Director of Clinical Development

4:30 – 4:50: Axoltis Pharma

  • Title: Phase II clinical trial evaluating NX210c drug candidate efficacy in ALS patients (“SEALS”): rational and innovative design.

o   Speaker: Dr Annette Janus, MD – Chief Medical Director

 4:50 – 5:10: Prilenia

  • Title: Pridopidine For the Treatment of ALS – Significant Improvements in Definite, Probable, and Early (<18mo from onset) Subjects in the Phase 2 Healey ALS Platform Trial.

o   Speaker: Dr. Michael R Hayden, MBChB, PhD, CEO.

 

5:30pm EST Closing Remarks/End Day 2

DAY 3: November 15, 2024

NEUROTECH DAY


10:00am -10:15am - Opening Remarks

  • James Berry, MGH

  • Lyle Ostrow, Temple University

10:15am -11:00am - Sensor Labs: Scaling Innovation & Avoiding Status Quo

Moderator: Lyle Ostrow, M.D. Ph.D

  • Nadine Tatton, CPath

  • Patrick Mercier, UCSD, Center for Wearable Sensors

  • Ajay Verma, Neurologist + Venture Capitalist

11:00am -11:45am - From Nice to Have to “Must Have” - What it Takes

Moderator: Karl Sillay, M.D.

  • Alvaro Pascual-Leone, Linus

  • David Suendermann-Oeft, Modality

  • Dmitriy Richard Starson, Passio

  • Ernest Fraenkel, MIT

11:45am -12:00pm - Demo AI in ALS CEP+ Patient Story

  • Speaker: Shawn Penno, Person Living with ALS & PathFinder

  • Natalia Luchkina, EverythingALS

  • Stephanie Henze, EverythingALS

12:00pm - 12:30pm - Big Tech and ALS: GenAI & AI for Good

Moderator: Dao Jensen, Compass UOL

  • Kely Norel, IBM

  • Luca Foschini, Sage Bionetworks

  • Geoff Green, Salesforce

12:30pm-2:15pm - BCI Discussion and Q&A

Intro and moderator - Leigh Hochberg, MGH

  • Kurt Haggstrom, Synchron

  • Romina Nejad, Neuralink

  • Nick Ramsey, University Medical Center Utrecht, Netherlands

  • Sergey Stavisky UC Davis

  • Benjamin Rapoport, Precision Neuroscience

  • Matt Angle, Paradromics

  • Rob Franklin, Blackrock

  • Jessica Kelemen,iBCI-CC

2:15pm-2:25pm - Closing Remarks

  • Indu Navar, EverythingALS and Jen DiMartino, ALS ONE

The ALS Community: You are welcome!

We welcome all individuals impacted by ALS to attend our symposium so that they can hear about important research and engage with those who are working so diligently to make a difference. Last year, were were honored to have six powerful and inspiring individuals (at left) who are currently living with ALS join us to give remarks and join our panel discussions. This year, we hope you’ll join us to learn more about Chuck and Nicole Johnson’s inspiring journey living with ALS, which they are courageously maneuvering with the help of their “Chucklings”.

SPONSORS

To become a sponsor of this year’s Symposium, please download our Symposium Sponsorship packet HERE or please email us HERE.

Current list of generous 2024 Symposium sponsors:

SAPPHIRE SPONSOR

GOLD SPONSOR

SILVER SPONSOR

BRONZE SPONSORS