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$15 Million Dollar Grant for ALS Research

May 30, 2006

Claire Tow and family have donated $15 million to match a grant to Columbia University Medical School to study motor neurons and motor neuron disease - the reseearch is intended to solve the mystery of ALS.

The motor neuron center is already up and running with participation from at least 40 different laboratories at Columbia, all with the goal of unraveling the biology of the vulnerable motor neurons and figuring out treatments.

"Project ALS had the idea to start a freestanding lab at Columbia," said Valerie Estess, who directs Project ALS. Columbia scientists discovered in 2002 that they could direct embryonic stem cells into becoming functional motor neurons in a mouse. Now, the hope is to do the same thing with human embryonic stem cells, Estess said.

"We hope we can get human stem cells that represent the sporadic form of ALS," said Christopher Henderson, a professor of pathology and neurology at Columbia and co-director of the Motor Neuron Center.

Big questions remain: Why are motor neurons so susceptible to damage? Could there be a way to replace dying motor neurons or stimulate new populations of them? Can scientists identify ways to treat this disease?

Right now, Claire Tow and others with ALS are living under a death sentence. Tow has tried an experimental drug called minocycline, the anti-inflammatory Celebrex and the nutritional supplement co-enzyme Q10.

"She's tried every flavor of the day," her husband said. "We don't know whether anything helped."

The Columbia scientists also are setting up laboratories to test experimental compounds.

"This is a complicated disease," Jessell said. "The best contribution is to provide the best rational science."