Our Mission
Our mission is to accelerate the development of new treatments through innovative research and working collaboratively with people living with ALS and all stakeholders in the ALS research community.
NEALS achieves this by functioning as an academic research organization and a resource hub for the ALS community, offering educational and training programs.
Our Values
At NEALS, our values underscore our commitment to the integrity of ALS clinical research and to the ALS community:
- Transparency: We believe in open scientific communication and strive to share information openly with our partners and stakeholders.
- Integrating the Lived ALS Experience: We are dedicated to building strong partnerships with people living with ALS, to ensure research initiatives align with community priorities.
- Excellence: Our approach to scientific research relies on rigorous peer review and ongoing quality improvement.
- Democratic Governance: We value inclusive decision-making and diverse perspectives to ensure that our organization and activities reflect the input and needs of the community.
By embracing these values, we aim to create a foundation of trust and collaboration, driving meaningful progress in ALS clinical research.
Our History
In 1995, the Northeast ALS Consortium (NEALS) was founded as an independent, non-profit group of research sites that collaboratively conduct clinical research in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and motor neuron disease (MND). While retaining its original acronym and focus on ALS trials, NEALS has since developed into an international consortium of ALS clinical research centers. Together, the scientists at these centers work to improve the efficiency and quality of ALS clinical trials and research, expand access to clinical research, support biomarker development with a robust biorepository, innovate ALS clinical care, and educate the community about ALS research.
Governed by a seasoned leadership team, NEALS has developed into an active network of over 150 trial-ready sites with extensive training on conducting clinical research and robust experience in designing and managing FDA-regulated clinical trials for ALS. NEALS has successfully partnered with industry and academic researchers to conduct high-quality ALS studies for over 25 years and has grown to be the largest ALS research consortium in the world.