UM scientists taking part of ALS study Play Video
Posted: Mar 12, 2010 7:20 AM
Updated: Mar 12, 2010 9:56 AM
MISSOULA - It's a disease you hear a lot about around Labor Day during the Jerry Lewis telethon. ALS, or Lou Gherig's disease, is an incurable, muscle wasting disease that's still as mysterious as it is deadly.
But researchers in Missoula were selected to team up with an elite group of scientists clearing the way to find a cure. Researchers at UM are creating a drug they hope will show them how and where amyotrophic lateral sclerosis attacks the brain.
"Our project is to try and develop a way to use pet scanning technology to follow the progression of the disease" according to Dr. Richard Bridges.
His assignment is to create a drug that tracks the disease in the brain, a tracer drug that shows where the disease is attacking motor neurons and how it spreads by using PET scanner. Scientists also hope someday the drug can detect the disease in a person long before any symptoms emerge. 
Dr. Bridges and Dr, John Gerdes are faculty in the Department of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences at the Skaggs School of Pharmacy at UM and are part of a team of researchers from places including Harvard, Johns Hopkins and Columbia University.
Some are studying the genetics of the disease, while some are developing animal models. The research project is a $15 million, three-year long effort.
