Barber ALS Research Awards
For more information about how to submit your presentation, and other key details, dates, and deadlines, please email us at BarberALSResearchAwards@alsnetwork.org.
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. |
Since 2017, the Barber family and the ALS Network have presented three ( 3 ) cash awards of $1,000 to each of the top three ( 3 ) ALS research poster presenters at the annual ALS Network’s Research Summit, along with a special recognition of their accomplishments. We invite early-career researchers to submit your poster to help our understanding of ALS, interact with the ALS community, and have the chance to win this competition as one of the best! For more information about how to submit your presentation, and other key details, dates, and deadlines, please email us at BarberALSResearchAwards@alsnetwork.org.
2026 Barber ALS Research Award Winners
He Lilian Gao
University of California San Diego
Briana Ondatje
Barrow Neurological Institute
Yuri Stanislav Tsitkov
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Previous Barber ALS Research Award Winners
- 2025
Olatz Arnold-Garcia, UCSD
Sidar Aydin, UCSD
Saeed Fathi, UCSF
Jasper Rubin-Siegler, USC
Anna Caroline Mascarenhas Dos Santos, Lawrence Livermore National Lab
Julie Smeyers, UCSF
Vladimir Zhemkov, Cedars-Sinai - 2024
Frederick Arnold, UCI
Caiwei Guo, Stanford University
Greg Mohl, UCSF
Kevin Rhine, UCSD
Maitreyee Wairagkar, PhD, UC Davis - 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, UCSD
Deepti Lall, PhD, Cedars-Sinai
Shan Lu, PhD, UCSD - 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, USC
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
