2004 Sheila Essey Award for ALS Research

The ALS Association and AAN Honor Leigh with Sheila Essey Award for ALS Research
(April 26, 2004) - P. Nigel Leigh, M.B.B.S, Ph.D., F.R.C.P., FMedSCI, of the Institute of Psychiatry at King’s College in London (UK), has been selected to receive the 2004 Sheila Essey Award for ALS Research by The ALS Association and the American Academy of Neurology (AAN).  Leigh will be honored during the American Academy of Neurology’s 56th Annual Meeting held April 24 – May 1 in San Francisco, California.

“Dr. Leigh has made numerous contributions to ALS research,” said ALSA’s Science Director and Vice President, Lucie Bruijn, Ph.D.  “He was the leader of the group that described ubiquitinated inclusions in surviving neurons of people with ALS, a discovery that has been key to distinguishing the different clinical manifestations of ALS, from purely motor ALS to ALS with dementia.  Furthermore, it is likely that ubiquitin plays a key role in the cell death process.”

Internationally recognized as a leader in research, Dr. Leigh developed one of the world’s model ALS care and research centers, and he has participated in all major clinical trials in the past decade.  Dr. Leigh was on steering committees for a number of clinical trials including riluzole, which is currently the only FDA-approved drug for the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.  In addition, his studies in the molecular genetics of ALS, the diagnosis of ALS by magnetic resonance techniques and the application of all forms of imaging to the study of dementia in ALS, improving care for respiratory problems of ALS and the development of palliative care has made a major impact on those people living with ALS.

Dr. Leigh is currently funded by The ALS Association, in partnership with the Motor Neurone Disease Association (MNDA) in the UK.  In this study, Dr. Leigh has developed and maintains an ALS Online Database to collect genetic and clinical information on individuals identified with the SOD1 mutant gene, which is responsible for about 20% of all familial ALS cases.  More recently this database has been expanded to include the ALS 2 gene and other ALS-related genes.  The database is a valuable resource for the scientific community and is frequently cited in key publications.  Investigators are urged to register and make use of the database as well as contribute to the database by providing clinical and genetic information.

“The Sheila Essey Award is, arguably, the most prestigious award for research into ALS, and as such, is a very great honor and an affirmation of the many colleagues in the King’s Care and Research Centre who have contributed so much to our joint endeavors over the last 15 years,” said Leigh.

In 1996, The ALS Associatin in partnership with AAN inaugurated the Sheila Essey Award for ALS Research to promote innovative ALS research and accelerate the search for the cause, prevention and cure for ALS.  Named for Sheila Essey who succumbed to ALS earlier this year, this important award recognizes an individual who has made significant research contributions.  The $25,000 prize is to be used toward continuing ALS research.  Funding of the award is made possible through The Essey Family Fund and The ALS Association.

“Dr. Leigh joins other distinguished researchers, Dr. Pamela Shaw, also from the U.K., and Dr. Jean-Pierre Julian, from Canada, as recipients of this world famous award in the field of ALS research,” said Richard P. Essey, member of ALSA National Board of Trustees and husband of Sheila Essey.

The American Academy of Neurology, an association of more that 18,000 neurologists and neuroscience professionals, is dedicated to improving patient care through education and research.  A neurologist is a doctor with specialized training in diagnosing, treating and managing disorders of the brain and nervous system such as stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease, autism and multiple sclerosis.  For more information about the American Academy of Neurology, visit its website at www.aan.com.