Barber ALS Research Awards
The Life and Legacy of Jim Barber
Jim Barber was a Vietnam War veteran and a graduate of University of California, Santa Barbara, and the UC Hastings College of Law. He was a successful attorney for more than 30 years, before he was diagnosed with ALS in 2006.
During his nearly decade-long battle with this disease, Jim became an instrumental voice in the ALS community. He helped create the California ALS Advocacy Committee, whose work resulted in the passage of two bills - The ALS Standard of Care Bill, which stated the highest standard of care for people with ALS in the California Health Code, and the California Tax Check-off Bill, which to date has raised more than $600,000 for ALS research. In addition, along with other advocates, Jim helped secure a pivotal $18 million grant for ALS research from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM). The ALS Association and the ALS Network recognized Jim for his work by honoring him with the Iron Horse Award in 2010 and the Heroes Living with ALS Award in 2011 and in 2016.
A major outcome of Jim's work was the formation of the California ALS Research Network in 2010 and the creation of the annual California ALS Research Summit in 2011.
About the Barber ALS Research Award
| Jim Barber was committed to the mission of the ALS Network and held a deep passion for advancing scientific achievement by fostering early-career researchers and developing new ideas. It was his desire that the annual ALS Research Summit would encourage this scientific collaboration and professional recognition. |
2024 Barber ALS Research Award Winners
Frederick Arnold, PhD
UC Irvine
Caiwei Guo, PhD
Stanford
Kevin Rhine, PhD
UCSD
Previous Barber ALS Research Award Winners
- 2023
Monica Feole, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Michael Edison Ramos, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Carolina Kondorfer Rangel, UCSD - 2022
Mariana Bravo-Hernandez, UCSD
Shu-Ting (Michelle) Hung, USC
Wonhee Lee, Cedars-Sinai - 2021
Sandra Diaz Garcia, PhD, UC San Diego
Deepti Lall, PhD, Cedars-Sinai
Shan Lu, PhD, UC San Diego - 2020
Michael W. Baughn, UCSD
Maya Maor Nof, PhD, Stanford
Veronica Garcia, PhD, Cedars Sinai - 2019
Jone Lopez-Erauskin, PhD, Ludwig Institute UCSD
Gabriel Linares, PhD, University of Southern California
Suganya Selvarajah, PhD, Prosetta Biosciences - 2018
Bankole Aladesuyi from the Ravits Lab at UCSD
Lindsay Becker from Gitler Lab at Stanford
Ankur Jain from the Vale Lab at UCSF - 2017
Dara Ditsworth, UCSD
Pooja Hor, USC
Gretchen Thomson, Cedars-Sinai
