ALS Center Overview

Center for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and Related Disorders

Mission Statement

The mission of the Center for ALS and Related Disorders is to:

• Provide excellent, comprehensive and multidisciplinary clinical care to patients and their families in a compassionate setting
• Conduct clinical investigations, participate in treatment trials and conduct basic research
• Provide ongoing education relevant to ALS to patients and their caregivers, to the multi-disciplinary team, and to health care professionals in the community.

ALS Center’s Team of Specialists Offer Comprehensive Care

Although there is no specific treatment for ALS because its cause is unknown, specialists in the ALS Center are familiar with the disease’s many manifestations. Because the specialists are familiar with both the typical and less typical symptoms, they are adept at distinguishing this disease from similar conditions that can be treated and reversed. Consequently, they are frequently called upon to confirm a diagnosis of ALS.

Once the disease is diagnosed, specialists and allied health professionals in the ALS Center offer patients comprehensive treatment in a compassionate setting. Although it is impossible to erase the weakness and progressive muscle paralysis that accompany this disease, team members strive to maintain, or at times restore, a patient’s muscle function and his or her ability to perform the daily activities of life.

ALS Center Designated by the ALS Association

The Cleveland Clinic’s Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) Center is one of 14 in the United States to be designated by the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Association. ALS Center specialists see more than 200 new ALS patients each year from the United States and abroad.

ALS Center Creates Solutions to the Challenges of ALS

Through scientific investigation, specialists at the ALS Center continue to probe for the cause of the disease.

Through clinical trials of promising medications, specialists seek potentially effective treatments.

In creating solutions to the many challenges people with ALS face, the ALS Center capitalizes on the interaction and cooperation among the physicians and allied health professionals who are members of the patient’s care-giving team.

ALS Center Team of Specialists

Core Members

• Erik P. Pioro, MD, PhD, FRCPC
  Director, Center for ALS and Related Disorders
• Kathleen M. Kelly, MSN, CNS
  ALS Clinical Coordinator
• Ruthie Kolb
  Clinical Research Coordinator

Clinical On-site Members

• Lisa M. Bruening, MS, CCC-SLP
  Program Services Coordinator
  ALS Association, Northern Ohio Chapter
• Shirley Eisenberg, LISW
  Social worker
  ALS Association, Northern Ohio Chapter
• Arelene Escuro, MS, RD, LD
  Dietician-Nutritionist
• Nancy Fenner, LISW
  Social Worker
• James Ives, OT
  Occupational Therapist
• Nancy Lukens, PT
  Research Physical Therapist
• Matt Sutliff, PT
  Physical Therapist
• Mary Trombold, MA, CCC-SLP
  Speech Pathologist

Clinical Consultant On-site Members

• Loutfi Aboussouan, MD (Pulmonologist)
• Karen Broer, PhD (Psychologist)
• Scott Marlow, BA, RT (Respiratory Therapist)
• R. Matthew Walsh MD (General Surgeon for PEG placement)

Neuromuscular Specialists

• Kamal Chemali, MD
• Rebecca M. Kuenzler, MD
• Kerry H. Levin, MD
• MaryAnn Mays, MD (Fellowship-trained)
• David C. Polston, MD
• Robert W. Shields Jr. MD
• Lan Zhou, MD, PhD

Neuroradiologist

• Micheal Phillips, MD
  Basic Research Personnel, Lerner Research Institute
• Volodymyr Kostenko, MD
  Post-doctoral fellow
• Jialin Zhang, MD
  Post-doctoral fellow
• Qi Yu, MSc
  Technician