Redefining Excellence Through Collaboration
From its earliest days, NEALS recognized that advancing ALS research required more than individual breakthroughs; it required shared standards, trained teams, and trust across institutions. NEALS Investigators plated a central role in developing and validating many of the outcome measures that define ALS clinical trials today. By standardizing how disease progression is measured, NEALS helped ensure that trials could be compared, replicated, and improved— raising the quality of research across the field. NEALS also established one of the first academic Clinical Research Organizations (CROs) dedicated to ALS. This model provided centralized coordination, quality oversight, and operational expertise – supporting NEALS- affiliated trials while also training other research networks and CROs. In doing so, NEALS helped elevate trial execution standards far beyond its own studies. Through clinical trial design workshops, cross- disciplinary committees, and investigator member forums, NEALS has created a culture where ideas are shared early, challenges are addressed collectively, and innovation is accelerated through collaboration rather than competition.
Building the Modern ALS Trial Infrastructure Many of the practices now considered essential to ALS clinical trials – standardized outcomes, trained evaluators, shared protocols – were pioneered, tested, or scaled through NEALS.
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