Author: blazeman

In a collaborative study between the National Institute of Health, the University of Maryland and the University of Michigan, researchers used a 7 tesla (high intensity) MRI to image the donated brains from donors with ALS and compared the findings to those obtained from donors without ALS. The spinal cord, brain and muscle samples used in the study were recovered by the University of Maryland Brain and Tissue Bank, which is supported by a grant from the Blazeman Foundation. Dr. Kwan (co-author) provides a summary of the study. For a more in-depth analysis, read the journal article from NeuroImage: Clinical 15 (2017) 200-208.

Dr. Rodal’s lab continues to investigate  how TDP-43 leads to growth signaling defects in the fruit fly model as well as  continuing to pursue the role of calcium channels in their mammalian models of ALS. Their progress report summarizes the past four years of research supported by the BMF and gives a look into next steps (how relevant are these pathways for progression of cellular pathology in human patients?). For a more detailed version of their work, please see the unabridged version.

BMF for ALS “Postdoctural Fellow” will examine a Protein’s Effect in Human Cells

Tissue donation is one of the greatest contributions that people can and have made to help find a cure for ALS. Proper storage of tissue is necessary, so to help in the fight the BMF has extended its grant to University of Maryland’s Brain and Tissue Bank for the purchase of additional freezers devoted to ALS research. Thank you.

was held at Soul Cycle, Bronxville, NY  on Sunday, March 19th. A special thank you to Phil Gormley, who has organized this event since the beginning! Thank you for all you have done. Thank you for all who’ve participated from year one to now year 10, (unbelievable)… You are the constant warriors in the WarOnALS®. Only by making a continuous and concerted effort through “research” on all levels, will this “hideous disease-ALS” be destroyed.

Today (March 16) your support goes 10x as far! Amazon is celebrating its #1 ranking in customer satisfaction by the ACSI! Today, March 16, Amazon will donate 5% (10 times the usual donation rate) of the price of your eligible AmazonSmile purchases to Blazeman Foundation for ALS. Get started at smile.amazon.com/ch/20-8526311.

The Mulligan Lab is currently completing treatments of the SOD1G93A mouse model of ALS with four different doses of the Hsp70 protein and hopes to have the dose response study complete by the end of March/mid-April. With positive results (hopefully), our ALS scientists and clinicians will begin to design initial clinical trials in patients.

This Holiday Season (or anytime of year) if you shop Amazon, then the AmazonSmile Foundation will donate 0.5% of the purchase price from your eligible purchases. Click  Blazeman Foundation for ALS for a direct link.

An update on the Hsp70 research being conducted in the Milligan lab and how your donations are contributing to the future success in the WarOnALS.

Blazeman postdoctural fellow, Dr. Mugdha Deshpande working with others in the lab of Dr. Rodal at Brandeis University found and fixed an abnormality in flies’ nervous system, restoring their ability to crawl. Understanding what goes wrong inside nerve cells could have implications for human disease.

The Blazeman Foundation for ALS support at Brandeis is critical to the efforts of ALS research and to training the next generation of ALS researchers.