Meet our ALS community’s incredible individuals, including our steadfast volunteers, researchers, advocates.
Meet Laura Miller, Living with ALS
Meet Laura Miller, team captain of Team Miller Time and person who has been living with ALS since 2020.
Laura, has joined the ALS Network for the last four years at the Central Valley Walk & Roll to Cure ALS. She and her team have created unique local fundraisers to support the search for a cure. Last year, in honor of its 10 year anniversary, Team Miller Time hosted their own ALS Ice Bucket Challenge fundraiser with their local community.
“It’s wonderful getting involved with all the people in the ALS Network – all the amazing support, friendship, and extended family. Awareness is huge. To get people knowing about what the ALS Network offers to those of us that are suffering from this rotten disease is critical. This is such a beautiful group of people with amazing hearts that fill mine every day.”
Meet Cherryl Fluke, JD, Executive Vice President of Mission Advancement, ALS Network
Meet Cherryl Fluke, JD, Executive Vice President of Mission Advancement for the ALS Network. In her role, Cherryl continuously engages with those living with ALS, their caregivers, ALS clinicians and researchers, and ALS advocates who work together in search of a cure.
“My vision for the organization is that we are service and solutions oriented for the people that we serve. The donor’s gift is an expression of love, connected to a person who is living with ALS or has lost their battle with this disease. When we collectively pull together, we will be able to move the needle when it comes to access to cure and curing this disease.”
Meet Justin Ichida, PhD, University of Southern California
Meet Justin Ichida, PhD, University of Southern California. Dr. Ichida spearheads ALS research using cutting-edge approaches to stop nerve cells from degenerating when affected by ALS.
“The research summit is quickly becoming one of the best ALS research conferences. People are open to sharing their ideas before they are published, and that is really where we start forming new collaborations earlier and where we start figuring out where to advance the science faster.” – Dr. Ichida
Dr. Ichida is also the Head of Neuroscience Research, BioMarin Pharmaceutical, and a member of the ALS Network Board of Directors and ALS Network Scientific Advisory Committee.
Meet Anne Snyder, Walk & Roll to Cure ALS Participant
Meet Anne Snyder, long-time Walk & Roll to Cure ALS participant and wife of 48 years to Leonard Snyder, a Navy veteran who lost his battle with ALS in 2023.
As team captain of Team Snyder, Anne returns year after year to show support for those who have been affected by ALS.
“We walk for Leonard and we will always be connected to him. It is so heartwarming to come back each year, and we will be back every year. Do reach out. The ALS Network changed our lives forever, I will forever be indebted. They were there when I needed them, and they were there for Leonard.”
Meet the 2025 Barber ALS Award Winners
Meet the 2025 Barber ALS Award winners: Jasper Rubin-Sigler, University of Southern California; Olatz Arnold-Garcia, UCSD; and Vladimir Zhemkov, Cedars Sinai Medical Center.
“ALS is a tremendously devastating disease. It also represents what I think is one of the most resilient patient communities that I know of. This award is really a testament to the commitment of not only scientists, but the patients themselves to help advance the field and bring attention to this unmet need for understanding and treating this really horrible disease.” – Jasper Rubin-Sigler, 2025 Barber ALS Award Winner
The three awardees spearhead crucial research related to ALS regarding pathological features of ALS, single-cell analysis, and RNA distinctions in motor neurons.