The Healey & AMG Center offers four prizes for innovation in ALS as global awards celebrating advances in research and care: the Sean M. Healey International Prize for Innovation in ALS, the Gupta Family Endowed Prize for Innovation in ALS Care, the Drs. Ayeez and Shelena Lalji & Family ALS Endowed Award for Innovative Healing, and the Drs. Ayeez and Shelena Lalji & Family Student Scholar Award for Repair and Regenerative Mechanisms in ALS. 

Sean M. Healey International Prize for Innovation in ALS 

The Sean M. Healey International Prize for Innovation in ALS Research recognizes an individual or a team of investigators who catalyze exceptional discoveries leading to a transformative advance in therapy development in ALS.

Established in 2019, Healey & AMG Center Director Merit Cudkowicz, MD, MsC said of the award “My vision for the Healey Center International Prize for Innovation is that it will recognize forward-thinking innovators to join the cause and find the cure."

Click here to view the 2024 award criteria and nomination portal. 

We are extremely grateful to have been selected for this prize in what is an unprecedented time for new discoveries and understanding in ALS biology, and a tangible increase in the hope for improved therapeutics.

2023 Award Recipients  

Recipients

2023

The team responsible for the establishment of neurofilament biomarkers as an early diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for ALS. Learn more.

2022

The team that brought innovation, rapid development, and efficacy in Phase 2 clinical trials that led to the FDA approval of Relyvrio as a new treatment for ALS, The FDA approved Relyvrio in September, after clinical data showed that the medication slowed disease progression, extending the lives of patients by several months. Learn more.

2021

PRO-ACT, the Pooled Resource Open-Access ALS Clinical Trials Database, for building the largest ALS clinical trials dataset ever created. PRO-ACT merges data from existing publicly- and privately-conducted ALS clinical trials to generate an invaluable resource for accelerating discovery in the field of ALS. Learn more.

2020

Project MinE, for developing the largest single disease whole genome sequencing project in the world. Award recipients include Professor Ammar Al-Chalabi of Kings College London, Professor Jan H. Veldink of University Medical Center Utrecht, Professor Orla Hardiman of Trinity College Dublin, Professor Phillip Van Damme of University of Leuven, Belgium, Professor Leonard H. van den Berg of University Medical Center Utrecht, Professor Jonathan D. Glass of Emory University, Professor John Landers of University of Massachusetts Medical School and Ms. Evy Reviers of EUpALS, Belgium. Learn more.

2019

Timothy Miller, MD, PhD, of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis; Don Cleveland, PhD, of the Ludwig Institute at the University of California at San Diego; Richard Smith, MD, of the Center of Neurological Study in La Jolla, California; Toby Ferguson, MD, PhD, for Biogen and Frank Bennett, PhD, for Ionis Pharmaceuticals; for their work creating the first clinical trial of antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) therapy for ALS. Learn more.

Gupta Family Endowed Prize for Innovation in ALS Care

Inaugurated in 2021, Gupta Family Endowed Prize for Innovation in ALS Care is a global prize to honor ground-breaking new approaches that lead to exceptional care for individuals living with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)

Click here to view the 2024 award criteria and nomination portal.

Recipients

2023

The teams from both ALS ONE and Compassionate Care ALS (CCALS). Learn more.

2022

The team from ALSUntangled, created by Richard Bedlack, M.D, PhD, Professor of Neurology at Duke University and Director of the Duke ALS clinic, for their work in facilitating more informed decisions treatments for ALS. Learn more.

2021

Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center ALS Clinic, for pioneering decentralized multidisciplinary ALS care using digital health and targeted remote monitoring technologies. Learn more.

The Drs. Ayeez and Shelena Lalji & Family ALS Endowed Award for Innovative Healing

In 2021, Drs. Shelena and Ayeez Lalji established an award to recognize an individual or team of investigators for excellence in their transformative scientific discoveries focused on repair of neurological function in ALS.

Click here to view the 2024 award criteria and nomination portal.

Recipients

2023

The team responsible for the development of a therapy to target FUS in people living with ALS demonstrating slowing and even reversing the disease course of FUS ALS in some people. Learn more.

2022

The Answer ALS Team and the team responsible for identifying Stathmin-2 as a therapeutic target for ALS. Learn more

2021

Marc Freeman, PhD and Michael Coleman, PhD, for their excellence in transformative scientific discoveries focused on repair of neurological function in ALS. Learn more.

The Drs. Ayeez and Shelena Lalji & Family Student Scholar Award 

In 2023, Drs. Shelena and Ayeez Lalji established an award to recognize bright young scientists in the field of ALS research facilitating meaningful projects to understand the mechanisms underlying axonal and neuronal repair and regeneration. 

Click here to view the 2024 award criteria and nomination portal

Recipients

2023

Deland Liu, PhD student, for his project integrating artificial intelligence (AI) modules in brain-computer interfaces to restore efficient communication for ALS patients. Learn more.