The ALS Association

• Funds basic scientific research directed at identifying the causes of and possible treatments and a cure for ALS. Conducts and supports two grant cycles per year.
• Is the vital link for people with ALS and their families to information, counseling, physician referrals, in-home visits, respite care and coping with the day-to-day challenges that living with ALS presents.
• Through its network of chapters, support groups, and ALS Association Centers, delivers care services and programs to patients, their families and caregivers at the community level.
• Provides education and information programs and in-services training for health care professionals.
• Hosts monthly research and care services webinars.
• Carries out national and local public awareness and education programs through media relations and public service awareness videos to stimulate volunteerism, scientific and health care community activism, and public support essential to fight ALS.
• Works with elected representatives to federal government, government agencies such as the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and human service agencies to expand government support of research and to elicit programs to make treatments and care accessible and affordable for all ALS patients.
• Collaborates with various research institutions, including the Northeast ALS Consortium (NEALS), ALS Therapy Alliance, The Robert Packard Center for Research at Johns Hopkins, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), NINDS, the Muscular Dystrophy Association, and MND-UK.

49 chapters and service areas, 50+ ALS clinics, Certified Center network, chapter-affiliated patient and caregiver support groups