Two ALS Researchers Win 2015 Sheila Essey Award

March 13, 2015 —

Sheila Essey, with her husband Dick Essey

Robert P. Bowser, Ph.D.

Adriano Chio, M.D., F.A.A.N.

Since 1996, The ALS Association, in partnership with the American Academy of Neurology, have presented the prestigious Sheila Essey Award for ALS Research to acknowledge and honor an individual who is actively engaged and making significant contributions in the search for the cause, prevention of and cure for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Funding of the award is made possible because of the generosity of The Essey Family Fund, through The ALS Association Golden West Chapter, in memory of Sheila Essey, who battled ALS for 10 years and died from the disease in 2004. Richard Essey, Sheila's husband, served as a National Trustee of The ALS Association and is one of the founding members of the Greater Bay Area Chapter, now the Golden West Chapter. Past recipients have received a $25,000 prize to be used specifically for continuing his/her ALS research. In 2014, the funding was increased to $50,000.

This year the award is being presented to two individuals- Robert P. Bowser, Ph.D., from Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, Arizona, and Adriano Chio, M.D., F.A.A.N., from the University of Turin, Italy.  Drs. Bowser and Chio will receive the award at the American Academy of Neurology's 67th Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., April 18 to 25, 2015. The Annual Meeting is the world's largest gathering of neurologists with more than 12,000 attendees and more than 2,500 scientific presentations on the latest research advances in brain disease.

“The ALS Association is proud of the work performed by both Drs. Bowser and Chio to advance the search to identify biomarkers and mechanisms of ALS,” said ALS Association Chief Scientist Lucie Bruijn, Ph.D., M.B.A. “Their accomplishments should help us in the effort to find truly effective treatments and ultimately a cure.”

Dr. Bowser is receiving the award for his research on identifying ALS biomarkers in the blood and cerebrospinal fluid of ALS patients. Biomarkers are anything that can be measured and used to determine a change in a person as a result of a disease. They can also help measure a disease's progression. "We have discovered a protein biomarker signature that distinguishes ALS patients from non-ALS patients," said Dr. Bowser. "The findings are helping us discover new ways by which ALS may initiate, and new targets to develop drugs to treat ALS patients."

“I am truly honored to be a recipient of this year’s Sheila Essey Award for ALS Research," Dr. Bowser added. “It is a privilege to be included with my many esteemed colleagues that have won this prestigious award in the past, and I remain committed to my research efforts to help define the pathophysiology of ALS and find improved drug treatments for ALS.”

For his award-winning work, Dr. Chio established the Piedmont registry to document and track many aspects of ALS, including genetic and environmental risks, progression, and survival rates. In particular, he was among the first to describe the increased risk of ALS among Italian soccer players and the potential risk that physical activity and traumas may play in a person's risk of the disease.

"The Piedmont registry has shown us that ALS is not simply one disease, but rather it is a collection of diseases that look the same, which is a major step forward in our efforts to develop personalized treatment and effective medications to slow down the disease," Dr. Chio said. "I am greatly honored and thankful to receive the Sheila Essey Award. The award is a strong motivation to proceed with even more dedication toward the goal of a world without ALS," he added.

RECIPIENTS OF THE SHEILA ESSEY AWARD

2015
Adriano Chiò, M.D. University of Turin, Turin, Italy
Robert Bowser, Ph.D. Barrow Neurological Institute, Phoenix, Arizona

2014
Jeremy M. Shefner, M.D., Ph.D. Upstate University Hospital, Syracuse, NY

2013  
Bryan J. Traynor, M.D., Ph.D. La Clinica Del Pueblo, Washington, DC; National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland
Rosa Rademakers, Ph.D. Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL

2012
Christopher E. Shaw, MBChB, M.D.. FRACP MRC Centre for Neurodegeneration Research, Institute of Psychiatry and King’s College London School of Medicine, London, UK

2011 
Leonard H. van den Berg, M.D., Ph.D.  University Medical Center Utrecht, The Netherlands

2010
Clive Svendsen, Ph.D. Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California

2009
Merit E. Cudkowicz, M.D., MSc  Charlestown, MA
Orla Hardiman, M.D., FRCP, FAAN Dublin, Ireland

2008
Wim Robberecht, MD, PhD, University of Leuven, Belgium

2007
Chris Henderson, PhD, Columbia University, New York, New York

2006
Peter Carmeliet, MD, PhD, Catholic University, Leuven, Belgium

2005
Michael J. Strong, MD, FRCPC, London, Ontario, Canada

2004
P. Nigel Leigh, MBBS, PhD, FRCP, FMedSCI, Institute of Psychiatry at King’s College, London

2003
Stanley H. Appel, MD, FAAN, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston Methodist Neurological Institute, Houston, TX

2002  
Serge Przedborski, MD, PhD, Columbia University, New York

2001
Pamela Shaw, MD, FRCP, FAAN, The University of Sheffield, Sheffield, England

2000
Jean-Pierre Julien, PhD, BSC, McGill University, The Montreal General Hospital Research Institute, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

1999
Don Cleveland, PhD, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, University of California-San Diego, La Jolla,California

1998
Theodore L. Munsat, MD, FAAN, Tufts University, Boston, Massachusetts
Lewis P. Rowland, MD, FAAN, Columbia University, New York, New York

1997
Jeffrey Rothstein, MD, PhD, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland

1996
Robert H. Brown, Jr., MD, DPhil, Massachusetts General Hospital
Teepu Siddique, MD, FAAN, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois