More than 70 years ago, Lou Gehrig took to the field in New York to say goodbye to baseball. He was forced out of the game by ALS – a progressive neurodegernative disorder for which there is no known cure. Today, this is still the case, and there are more than half a million people battling this same disease. But there is reason to hope; thanks to a greater understanding of this disease, greater awareness and an increased effort to develop effective treatments for patients today. This year is the third year of the league-wide 4ALS Awareness campaign, created in partnership with MLB and several leading ALS organizations, to continue the fight against the disease that felled the “Iron Horse” all those decades ago.

Since 2009, the entire league has come together to help increase the world’s understanding of ALS and to highlight the work being done in labs across the globe to develop effective treatments for patients today. The ALS Therapy Development Institute is pleased and honored to be part of this campaign and to be leading that fight. During the month of May, we will be kicking off the campaign at the 4ALS Day event at Fenway Park on May 4th; followed by events in nearly every other park throughout the rest of the season. These events will include ceremonies recognizing people currently living with ALS and their families; helping to put a modern face on this disease.

We are also doing something unique during the month of May. Each day this month, we will be posting a picture taken in our research institution. These pictures will be of real researchers doing real experiments on real drugs designed to combat ALS. These pictures will be posted daily on Facebook and Twitter. Click to follow and leave comments for the team working everyday at ALS TDI on behalf of patients today. We will also be posting recaps, pictures and video from each of the 4ALS Days here on the blog at MLB.com/4ALS.

While there is no known cure for ALS today, we are closer than ever before. This is in part thanks to the work we have been able to do because of the support we receive from MLB, all of the clubs in the league, and, of course, fans of baseball everywhere which share our vision of a world without ALS.

Click here to view an update on ALS research
Click here to learn more about ALS clinical trials
Click here to donate to the fight to end ALS

Robert Goldstein (rgoldstein@als.net) ALS Therapy Development Institute