Our Experts

Collaboration is the cornerstone of the ALS Network’s research program. We partner with academia, industry, government, and other nonprofit organizations. 

We create long-lasting collaborations among researchers across all sectors, leading to globally shared data, protocols, and research samples to accelerate progress.

California ALS Research Summit

Our Scientific Advisory Committee

The ALS Network’s Research Program, in collaboration with outstanding partners, provides innovation grants to fund novel yet scientifically rigorous ideas that can transform our understanding of ALS. Grant recipients are selected through a competitive process by our world-class Scientific Advisory Committee. 

Our seed funding to establish proof of concept for new scientific approaches potentially positions these visionary projects for larger-scale funding in the future, such as government grants. In addition, our nimble “pitch session” approach to unique projects accelerates the application process, removing red tape and moving promising science forward faster..

Our Clinic Partners

The ALS Network collaborates with 31 ALS clinic partners in California and Hawaii to help ensure that people living with ALS have access to world-class multidisciplinary care along with clinical trials and other opportunities to participate in research. We bring these clinic partners together regularly to share information, progress, and issues connected to the ALS community, with a goal of accelerating the pace of discovery and ensuring the quality of ALS care. 

For more about our clinic partners, including a full list, please visit our ALS Clinics and Centers page.

The California ALS Research Network

The California ALS Research Network is an ad hoc group of ALS researchers, investigators, clinicians, and advocates, along with representatives of industry, government, and partner organizations -- all of whom volunteer their time and expertise to advance the Network's mission.  

The mission of the Network is: (i) to find effective treatments and cures for ALS; (ii) to facilitate development and implementation of the best possible ALS research program in California; and (iii) to put California in the forefront of ALS research worldwide.

Our 2024 Network members include some of the founders of the annual California ALS Research Summit and the planning committee for the 14th Annual Summit:

  • Lucie Bruijn, PhD, MBA, Neuroscience R&D Consultant and Senior Advisor, Dementia Discovery Fund
  • Don W. Cleveland, PhD, Departmental Chair of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, UCSD
  • Steve Finkbeiner, MD, PhD, Associate Director and Senior Investigator, Gladstone Institutes
  • Aaron Gitler, PhD, Professor of Genetics, Stanford University 
  • Jill Goslinga, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor, Neurology, Weill Institute for Neurosciences, UCSF
  • Namita Goyal, MD, FAAN, Professor, Director Neuromuscular Medicine Fellowship & ALS Clinic, UC Irvine
  • Justin Ichida, PhD, Assistant Professor of Stem Cell & Regenerative Medicine, USC
  • Jonathan S. Katz, MD, Clinic Director, Forbes Norris ALS Center, California Pacific Medical Center
  • Michael McGrath, MD, PhD, UCSF Professor Emeritus, Department of Medicine, CSO, Founder of Neuvivo, Inc.
  • Daniel Mordes, MD, PhD, Professor in Experimental Pathology IV, Weill Institute for Neurosciences, UCSF
  • Tahseen Mozaffar, MD FAAN, FANA, Director, ALS and Neuromuscular Center, UC Irvine
  • John M. Ravits, MD, Professor of Clinical Neuroscience, UCSD
  • Jeffrey Rosenfeld, MD, PhD, Director, Neuromuscular ALS/MND Program, Loma Linda University
  • Richard Smith, MD, Director, Center for Neurologic Study
  • Sheri Strahl, MPH, MBA, President & CEO, ALS Network
  • Clive Svendsen, PhD, Chair, California ALS Research Network; Executive Director, Cedars-Sinai RMI
  • Leslie M. Thompson, PhD, Chancellor’s Professor, UC, Irvine
  • Martina Wiedau, MD, Co-Director, ALS Center, UCLA
  • Eugene Yeo, PhD, MBA, Deputy Chair, Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine, Director, Professor, UCSD