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ALS Texas Implements New Leadership Model to Manage Texas-Sized Growth

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New Regional Director Joins North Texas Team

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ALS Association North Texas team (left to right): Taylor Brewer, Care Services Coordinator; Christina Flinn, Special Events Coordinator; Janette Steinheimer, Care Services Manager; Catherine Nodurft, Regional Director; Sharon D’Souza, Operations Manager; Elise Bernard, Communications Manager

Since it’s official formation in early 2012, The ALS Association of Texas has seen an exponential increase in the number of Texans with ALS that it is assisting. Along with that growth came the increasing challenge of ensuring that the chapter was best positioned and resourced to provide people in every corner of the state access to ALS clinics, support groups, loaned medical equipment and other resources to live with ALS.

To that end, last year the chapter began developing a staffing structure that went beyond the traditional department-focused organizational chart to something that would provide for on-the-ground leadership in each of its three regions serving ALS patients and their families within Texas.

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What Would You Do with an Extra Day of Life?

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Today is February 29, or what’s more famously known as Leap Year Day. It’s basically our human attempt to even things out by piecing together scraps of time from the past into one additional day every four years. An extra 24 hours, how great is that! It’s even better than gaining an extra hour of sleep every November when Daylight Saving Time ends.

If you’ve never been impressed by the concept of Leap Year Day, perhaps now is the time to start viewing it as a bonus to be spent on doing something special. Some people write themselves letters (or have their children write letters to themselves) and read them in four years to see what’s changed. Others set aside the day to do a special project they have been putting off. Some of us plan to make a $29 donation to our favorite charity. Regardless of the act, the idea of doing something unique in honor of this extra day has merit.

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ALS BrainStorm Stem Cell Clinical Trials Update

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JAMA Neurology has published a paper titled, “Safety and Clinical Effects of Mesenchymal Stem Cells Secreting Neurotrophic Factor Transplantation in Patients With Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis – Results of Phase1/2 and 2a Clinical Trials.” This study comes out of a collaboration of researchers from BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics and the Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center both located in Israel.

The researchers set out to understand the safety and clinical effects of treatment with mesenchymal stem cells induced to secrete neurotrophic factors (MSC-NTF) in patients with ALS. Stem cells used in this study are adult mesenchymal stem cells derived from bone marrow samples given by participants in the trial. The bone marrow cells are turned into stem cells that secrete the NTFs. NTFs are a type of nutrient for cells and were previously shown to have protective effects in animal models of neurodegenerative disease.

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ALS Association Awards $1.3M to 9 New ALS Research Projects

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We are excited to announce funding for  nine new ALS research projects! The ALS Association awarded more than $1.3M to projects across the country, furthering investigation into the cause, treatments and cure for ALS.  Projects include research on the C9orf72 gene, which has been identified as the most common cause of familial ALS.  The research awards include ALS Association-Initiated Grants, Investigator-Initiated Biomarker Grants, and the Milton Safenowitz Postdoctoral Fellowships.

To learn more about these research grants and initiatives, visit alsa.org.