My mother told me she was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, also known as ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease, the weekend that I graduated from law school. At the time I didn't even know what it was.
The bleachers at Wrigley Field were filled with fans sporting a blue shirt on Thursday night. On this occasion, they were not simply Cubs Ts, but ones dedicated to raising awareness on Lou Gehrig Day.
Back in 2014, millions of people poured icy water over their heads to spread ALS awareness and support research for the devastating neurodegenerative disease.
Ady Barkan, 38, is a political activist and co-founder of Be a Hero, a political action committee that supports liberal candidates and causes. As an organizer for the Center for Popular Democracy in 2017, Barkan confronted then-Sen. Jeff Flake on a plane about his vote on a tax bill, an encounter that was captured on a video and went viral.
We talked with Dr. Ahmad Al Khleifat, recent winner of the distinguished ENCALS Young Investigator Award and postdoctoral fellow from King’s College London, to learn more about his research focused on disease gene identification through next generation sequencing, coupled with advanced data analysis to deliver diagnostic tools for complex disease genetics.
It’s going to take all of us working together to make ALS a livable disease and ultimately find a cure. And it will take people like YOU. Whether you have a personal connection to ALS or just want to help make a difference for families impacted by the disease, becoming an advocate is easy.