ALS Therapy Development Institute

The ALS Therapy Development Institute (ALS TDI) is the world's foremost drug discovery lab focused solely on ALS. As a nonprofit biotech we operate without regard to profit or politics.

Led by drug development experts and people with ALS, our Cambridge, Massachusetts based lab is funded by a global network of supporters unified to end ALS.

The ALS Therapy Development Institute (ALS TDI) is the world's foremost drug discovery lab focused solely on ALS. As a nonprofit biotech we operate without regard to profit or politics.

Led by drug development experts and people with ALS, our Cambridge, Massachusetts based lab is funded by a global network of supporters unified to end ALS.

Our Impact

With preclinical, clinical, and translational research all happening under one roof, we rapidly pursue the best ideas for slowing, stopping, and ending ALS. Our cutting-edge approach has resulted in:

The rigorous screening of over 400 potential treatments for ALS—more than any other ALS research lab in the world.
The world's first Precision Medicine Program, a partnership with people living with ALS, designed to speed up drug discovery and therapeutic development for ALS.
ALS TDI becoming the first nonprofit biotech in any disease to develop a potential treatment, AT-1501, and bring it from our own labs, through FDA review and into clinical trial.
The improvement of worldwide standards in preclinical drug screening in models of ALS.

Learn About Our Research Approach

Why We Started

Stephen Heywood was diagnosed with ALS at age 29. After finding no treatment options, his brother, Jamie Heywood, realized that a gap existed in the preclinical development of therapies for ALS. In 1999, Jamie founded the ALS Therapy Development Foundation, now ALS TDI, in the basement of his family's Newton home in an effort to bridge this gap and bring effective treatments to people with ALS as quickly as possible.

Although Stephen is no longer with us, this same sense of hope, family and innovation drives every decision made at ALS TDI today.

Explore Our 20-Year History

What We're Doing in 2019

In 2019, the ALS Therapy Development Institute (ALS TDI) and our collaborators are working toward one shared mission: to discover and develop treatments for ALS. This year we will continue to address all forms of ALS, studying both preclinical and clinical development, and the biology of the disease. We will not stop until there is a treatment for every person living with ALS.

We aim to go deeper.

ALS TDI will expand the scale of our small molecule drug discovery efforts using a combination of rational drug design and chemical library screens in neural cells derived from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs).

We will enhance our longitudinal blood-based biomarker discovery program to identify biomarkers of disease progression.

ALS TDI will advance 25-30 early stage molecules through rigorous screening using the SOD1 mouse model.

We dig data.

ALS TDI will enroll 200 more people in our Precision Medicine Program (PMP).

In collaboration with Google, we will continue to apply artificial intelligence technology to our unique PMP data to better understand ALS.

We will work with experts at the Broad Institute to expand our knowledge of ALS genetics.

We work with the best.

ALS TDI will build on collaborations with Google and the Broad Institute, while continuing to work as world experts in ALS preclinical research with other organizations to validate potential treatments in our lab.

We explore the possibilities.

ALS TDI will characterize new models of ALS with the goal of using them to discover treatments.

We will not stop.

Our team at ALS TDI is dedicated to finding effective therapies for ALS. We won't give up until there is an effective treatment for every person with ALS.

See The Latest Research News

We Put Your Money Where Our Research Is

87 cents of every dollar donated goes directly to finding treatments and cures at ALS TDI, compared to the average 75 cents at other research labs.

Charity Navigator has awarded ALS TDI its highest rating—four stars—for a record six years in a row. This exceptional designation sets ALS TDI apart from its peers.