Big challenges can lead to bigger breakthroughs

My name is Cathy Cummings and as executive director of the International Alliance of ALS/MND Associations, I am part of a global community working toward the vision of a world free of ALS/MND.

The International Alliance is an organization of organizations, with members from countries around the world, dedicated to connecting people, breaking down siloes, and making sure our efforts aren’t duplicative.

The ALS Association has been an international leader and critical partner in this effort; the power and impact of their global research program is pivotal in our search for a cure.

And we’ve seen a lot of movement:

We’re looking at the way we measure outcomes from clinical trials and harmonizing those throughout the world, so that people from South America, Europe, and Africa are working the same way as Asia and North America.

We’re focusing on making voice preservation and voice banking technology ubiquitous, so that people with ALS can connect and communicate with their loved ones, regardless of where they are, their socioeconomic situation, or the language they speak.

We’re continuing to work on genetics, making sure we’re including underrepresented communities, so that we gain a better understanding of the disease and move even closer to a cure.

“Our partnership with The ALS Association and other organizations helps us to be a global gateway for information, turning great thinking into quick progress.”

Big challenges can lead to bigger breakthroughs. The pandemic has opened the door to telemedicine and closer connections, so people with ALS and their families don’t feel alone. The fact that ALS can hit anybody, anywhere—and does—means we have a world united in its determination to stop it.

Together—with the collaboration of powerful ALS/MND organizations around the world—we will move the needle on making this a livable disease.

ALS doesn’t stop. Neither will we.

Cathy Cummings 
Executive Director, International Alliance of ALS/MND Associations

P.S. To learn more about some of the unique ALS initiatives taking place around the globe, click HERE.