Gene Therapy Strategies for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

 

What is Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)?

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Charcot disease after the physician who first described it, and Lou Gehrig’s disease in the US after a famous baseball player who suffered from ALS, is a neurodegenerative disorder that primarily affects the motor neurons.

Clinically this leads to progressive muscle weakness, progressive paralysis and ultimately death within three to five years post-diagnosis. There is currently no cure for ALS. Despite the number of ongoing clinical trials, the only FDA-approved treatment to date is riluzole, which only increases patient survival by about 3 months. There is therefore an unmet medical need for this fatal disease, and several novel therapeutics are being actively investigated. One of the proposed strategies is gene therapy.

 

Dr. Robert Brown, D.Phil, MD

A leading researcher for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)

Robert Brown received a D.Phil. degree in Neurophysiology from Oxford University and M.D. degree from Harvard University. Dr. Brown completed his residency at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School and research fellowship at Boston Children’s Hospital, where he expanded his research in identifying gene defects that underlie ALS and related neuromuscular disorders. He was a lead member of the team identifying the first ALS gene (SOD1) and has subsequently identified others, including alsin, dynactin, FUS/TLS, ErbB4 and profilin1. He has also identified causative gene defects in other disorders including limb girdle dystrophy type 2B, hereditary sensory neuropathy, and hyperkalemic paralysis. 

He has published more than 250 peer-reviewed reports and 60 reviews and chapters on these topics. Dr. Brown is also well known for his work with patient advocacy groups and charitable organizations. He is a founding member of the Northeast ALS Study Consortium and president of the ALS Therapy Alliance's Board of Directors. Dr. Brown is a member of the American Neurological Association, has been inducted into the Institute of Medicine and 2011, named a member of the Association of American Physicians.

Robert Brown, D.Phil, MD LaChance Family Chair of Neurology, Director, ALS Clinic, Co-Director, Laboratory for ALS Genetics, Co-Director, Neurotherapeutics Institute Visit Profile Page Contact Dr. Brown