Zebrafish Help Canadian Researchers Provide Answers to Cause of ALS

MARKHAM, ONTARIO  June 4, 2013 — Canadian researcher Edor Kabashi of the Université de Montréal has developed the first animal model to study the function of a gene responsible for the highest percentage of ALS, commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. Results to date shed light on the cause of the devastating disease.
“Our results indicate that [...]

ALS Breakthrough Underscores Importance of Collaboration to Brain Research

As the result of a major breakthrough by researchers at Northwestern University’s School of Medicine, researchers studying amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, are now one step closer to unlocking the nature of ALS. The recent discovery, which for the first time identified a gene both in motor neurons in the brain and spinal cord affected by ALS, offers a glimpse of hope to those who currently suffer from the deadly disease which rapidly breaks down their bodies while leaving mental capacity intact.

RASCALS Scholarship Deadline July 1st, 2013

The RASCALS Foundation would like to remind all ALS Families that there is still time to apply for the Higher Education Scholarship.
The Foundation is accepting applications and the deadline is fast approaching. All entries must be postmarked by July 1, 2013!
Click on the Guidelines tab for more information and contact us through this website [...]

Melissa Marr Joins RASCALS Board of Directors

This spirit of volunteerism also extends to our leadership. We have been fortunate to have some very bright and energetic people step forward to help plan how we might best serve the ALS community. With that in mind, we proudly announce that Melissa Marr has accepted the position of Marketing Director on the RASCALS Foundation Board of Directors.

Breaking News: ALS Awareness Month Has Changed — to ALS Action Month

We are a 100% all-volunteer 501(c)(3) non-profit charity. No one takes a paycheck here and there are no administrative costs. That means 100% of all funds raised by the R.A.S.C.A.L.S. Foundation go directly to fighting ALS.

The money goes to fund promising treatment research and development. It helps with ALS family assistance, such as our annual Higher Education Scholarship program.

Pitt Findings on Lou Gehrig’s Disease May Hold Hope

By Kaitlynn Riely for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 26, 2013 •
A person diagnosed this year with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, better known as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease, will receive basically the same prognosis as the New York Yankee did — an average life expectancy of two to five years.
More than 70 years after Gehrig’s death, [...]

Pitt Team Finds Melatonin Delays ALS Symptom Onset and Death in Mice

Hoping to stop neuron death in ALS just as they did in Huntington’s, the research team treated mice bred to have an ALS-like disease with injections of melatonin or with a placebo. Compared to untreated animals, the melatonin group developed symptoms later, survived longer, and had less degeneration of motor neurons in the spinal cord.

Neuralstem ALS Trial Data Presented at the American Association of Neurological Surgeons Annual Meeting

“That our cells and method of delivery are safe in ALS patients bodes very well for expanding to other indications. We expect to commence our FDA-approved Phase I trial in chronic spinal cord injury later this year using the same methodology. We want to thank the surgeons at Emory, who developed these techniques, as well as the patients and their families who have taken part in the trial.”

110% Gratitude to All Our Volunteers

April marks National Volunteer Month. This observance holds very special meaning for all of us here at the Robert A. Stehlin Campaign for ALS (R.A.S.C.A.L.S.). That’s because we are a 100% all-volunteer 501(c)(3) non-profit charity. There are no administrative costs.
That means no salaries, payments, or perks for anyone. Out-of-pocket expenses truly means out of our [...]

NEALS SOD1 Research is First Antisense Oligonucleotide Trial for a Central Nervous System Disorder

Antisense Oligonucleotides May be Feasible ALS Therapeutic Strategy

BOSTON, Massachusetts, March 29, 2013 — Published online today in Lancet Neurology, an SOD1-related familial ALS trial under the direction of NEALS researchers Timothy Miller, MD, PhD (Washington University School of Medicine) and Merit Cudkowicz (Massachusetts General Hospital) indicates that antisense oligonucleotide delivery to the central nervous system may [...]