The Emory ALS Center is designed and dedicated to performing cutting edge research while providing comprehensive care for people and families with ALS and related motor neuron diseases. Emory is recognized nationally as an ALS referral center by both the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) and the ALS Association. Since its initiation in 1997, the center has grown to be one of the premier centers for ALS care in the United States. In addition, Emory has been selected by the MDA as one of five national centers as part of a Clinical Research Network to speed and support ALS research.
"Research in my laboratory focuses on understanding the biology of ALS, with the goal of developing new approaches to prevention and treatment of ALS. My research team includes those occupied specifically on clinical trials with ALS patients, and investigators working in the basic science laboratory on animal and cellular models of the disease.
Clinically, we are active participants in a number of the major and smaller clinical trials in ALS, and we are actively pursuing answers to “why” ALS happens and “what” makes it progress. In the laboratory we are working with animal and cellular models of ALS, and we are using state of the art technology to investigate biological processes driving disease onset, progression, and the differences seen between various patients.
The Emory ALS Center is also a part of the Emory Brain Health Center, where clinicians and scientists studying the spectrum of neurodegenerative diseases (e.g. Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and Huntington's diseases), combine our efforts to find commonalities in disease mechanisms that will advance our understanding of these disorders.
The ability to deliver expert clinical care in an environment rich with opportunities for clinical and basic science research is what gets me up in the morning. I believe that this approach is the best way to find answers to the difficult questions of causes and treatments for ALS, while focusing on the most important task of taking care of people and families with ALS." -Jonathan Glass, MD, Director of the Emory ALS Center.