Our Research

Project A.L.S.™ Milestones

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.