title: Peer recommendations on how to improve clinical research, and Conference wrap-up.
abstract: To promote clinical and patient oriented research, as part of the Second International ALS Conference in Tarrytown, NY, USA, seven pairs of clinicians and scientists were asked to lead discussions with meeting attendees on six major topics (one of which was discussed by two groups); each one the focus of a 90-min Breakout Session. Approximately 25 meeting attendees participated in each session. The Breakout Sessions considered six major themes: 1) Approaches to encourage clinicians to engage in more clinical research to discover the pathogenesis and cause of ALS; 2) Exploring avenues to build more effective partnerships between basic scientists and ALS physicians; 3) Increasing patient interest and commitment to participating in non-trial clinical research; 4) Brainstorming about factors that are most critical to the discovery of the pathogenesis and cause of ALS; 5) Finding ways to incorporate clinical research projects into clinical trials; and 6) Developing state-of-the-art epidemiological studies to solve the mystery of ALS. In this paper, we present the reports from each of the Breakout Sessions; and we provide a wrap-up of the entire conference.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, USA. dchad@partners.org
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Chad
authors.forename: Lewis P
authors.initials: LP
authors.lastname: Rowland
authors.forename: Carmel
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Armon
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bedlack
authors.forename: Heather
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Durham
authors.forename: Pam
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Factor-Litvak
authors.forename: Terry
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Heiman-Patterson
authors.forename: Daragh
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Heitzman
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lacomis
authors.forename: Albert
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ludolph
authors.forename: Nicholas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Maragakis
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.forename: Gary
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pattee
authors.forename: Christen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Shoesmith
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sorenson
authors.forename: Martin R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Turner
mesh_terms: D000690:Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy; D035843:Biomedical Research; D003226:Congresses as Topic; D006801:Humans; D007391:International Cooperation; D010380:Peer Review