Our
Research

1998

• Jenifer Estess is diagnosed with ALS and starts Project A.L.S.™
• Project A.L.S.™ incorporates as a 501©3 and raises first research funds.
• Forges its first research collaboration between scientists at Massachusetts General Hospital, Johns Hopkins, Columbia University.

1999

• First to ask if stem cells would be a useful tool in ALS research.
• Funds leading stem cell scientists from Boston Children’s and Johns Hopkins to work with ALS clinicians.
• Funds construction of first micro-assays for ALS drug screening.

2000

• Recruits developmental biologists to study ALS.
• Stem cell team completes first transplants in SOD1(ALS) mice.

2002

• Project A.L.S.™ scientists devise “recipe” for turning mouse stem cell into motor neurons.
• Establishes SOD1 mouse colony; provides reagent free of charge to scientists worldwide.

2003

• Rats with an ALS-like syndrome recover partial motor function after injections of stem cells.
• A gene therapy approach, AAV/IGF-1, extends lifespan of ALS mice by 1/3.
• Jenifer Estess: 1962-2003

2004

• Stem cell-derived motor neurons connect with muscle in vitro
• With Harvard Neurodiscovery Center, launches history’s most comprehensive study of sporadic ALS genetics.

2006

• Jenifer Estess Laboratory for Stem Cell Research, world’s first and only privately funded lab to focus exclusively on stem cells and ALS opens in New York.

2007

• Scientists derive first functional motor neurons from human ES cells in Estess Lab.

2008

• Harvard-Columbia-Project A.L.S.™ team use iPS (induced pluripotent stem) cells to generate first motor neurons from an ALS patient.

2009

• Over 50 patient-specific stem cell lines created.
• Researchers use iPS motor neurons and astrocytes to model ALS.
• First drug screens against patient-specific motor neurons and astrocytes.

2010

• P²ALS: A collaboration between Project A.L.S.™ And Packard Center energizes ALS research.