Let’s face it. Frank Andrews is a trooper. The former civil engineer and avid scuba diver from Katy, Texas, has always loved the outdoors, going way back to his Eagle Scout days, growing up in the Ozarks of southern Missouri. But in 2002, his world was turned upside down with a diagnosis of ALS.

At a standing-room-only public hearing Monday, Feb. 25, 2013, people with ALS and their families, researchers, clinicians and other medical professionals urged the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to address the unique needs of patients and their families when considering the development of therapies for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will host a public hearing Monday, Feb. 25, 2013, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern time, in Silver Spring, Md., to discuss the development of drugs for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

Anecdotal evidence has long described a positive association between being lean or underweight and developing amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Now, results from a large-scale study conducted in Europe appear to confirm these observations, showing that individuals with more body fat have a decreased risk of developing the disease.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given the go-ahead to the nonprofit biotech ALS Therapy Development Institute (ALS TDI) to conduct a clinical trial of TDI132  — also known as fingolimod, or the brand name Gilenya— in people withALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis).

Twelve new grants totaling $3.6 million have been awarded in support of research studies that will explore the causes of, and potential treatments for, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).