CHICAGO – The 15 th annual Les Turner Symposium on ALS will be held on Monday, Nov. 3, 2025 in Chicago. Hosted by the Les Turner ALS Foundation and the Les Turner ALS Center at Northwestern Medicine, this event will gather leading ALS researchers and clinicians to discuss the latest research and perspectives on the disease.
There is no cost to attend the symposium or watch the presentations online. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) will provide opening remarks by video, discussing the importance of continued funding for ALS research.
The keynote address, Development of Designer DNA Drug Therapy for Neurodegenerative Disease , will be delivered by Don Cleveland, PhD, who holds the title of Distinguished Professor in the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine at the University California San Diego. An internationally heralded expert in cancer biology, he earned a PhD in biochemistry from Princeton University. He has been elected to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and the U.S. National Academy of Medicine.
Cleveland purified and characterized the first microtubule associated protein – tau – which misassembles in Alzheimer’s disease and chronic brain injury. He uncovered mechanisms of motor neuron degeneration in ALS, demonstrating both neurofilament disorganization and toxicity of mutant superoxide dismutase. He showed that motor neuron death in inherited ALS is non-cell autonomous, requiring mutant damage to both neurons and neighboring glial cells. He developed “designer DNA drugs” (antisense oligonucleotides) for silencing disease-causing genes, with clinical trials now ongoing in ALS, Huntington’s, Parkinson’s, and Alzheimer’s diseases.
“Scientific discoveries lay the foundation for the development of effective treatment strategies,” said P. Hande Ozdinler, PhD, associate professor of neurology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and an organizer of the event. “This symposium is designed to bring scientists together and allow us to share unpublished data, ideas, and plans for the future. We’ll share exciting current developments in preclinical studies and drug discovery efforts, and how those translate to treatment strategies.”
Dr. Cleveland will be joined by researchers from University College London, the Université de Montréal, and Northwestern University. They will explore new research on critical topics in ALS, including:
They will explore new research on critical topics in ALS, including:
In the afternoon, Senda Ajroud-Driss, MD will lead a Q&A session with Dr. Cleveland. Attendees will also have the opportunity to network over breakfast and lunch, and to enjoy the mid-day poster session.
For more information and to register, visit lesturnerals.org/symposium .
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About the Les Turner ALS Foundation
Founded in 1977, the Les Turner ALS Foundation is one of the longest-serving ALS groups in the country. Our support services team helps people living with ALS receive the best quality of care and access to the most promising therapies, and we offer support groups, ALS resources and webinars, and live events to provide answers and encouragement.
Our Les Turner ALS Center at Northwestern Medicine is led by the most well-respected scientists and clinicians in the field, advancing vital research into causes, treatments, and cures for the disease. To learn more, visit lesturnerals.org .