ALS Clinic

The VCU Health ALS clinic and research program is the largest of its kind in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Providing care for patients across Virginia and surrounding states, this multidisciplinary clinic allows for consolidated, yet comprehensive care delivered by a team of highly trained providers. An ALS Association Center of Excellence, our clinic team is committed to improving quality of life and delivering hope to patients with motor neuron diseases.

Hear Dr. Gwathmey talk about our ALS clinic and what makes it special.

Multidisciplinary and comprehensive care for ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or Lou Gehrig’s disease)

We provide comprehensive care and support to patients with ALS and other motor neuron diseases. Our multidisciplinary team is an experienced and dedicated team of experts in:

• neurology
• physical therapy
• occupational therapy
• speech therapy
• nutrition
• respiratory therapy
• social work
• research
• nurse navigation
• genetic counseling
• clinical psychology, and
• psychiatry.

Being followed in a multidisciplinary clinic results in improved quality of life, improved clinical outcomes (access to disease-modifying treatments and equipment) as well as reduced hospitalizations and prolongs life.

In addition to becoming the patient’s “home base” as they navigate the disease, our clinic provides disease-specific treatments and symptomatic management. We assist with obtaining necessary equipment and setting up additional therapies. We also integrate clinical research for all interested patients.

Raising awareness of ALS

The team recently gathered outside of VCU Health's Short Pump Pavilion for the ice bucket challenge to help raise awareness about ALS. Learn more about how the team is helping to find better ALS treatments and improve patient care.

Access to clinical trials and resources

As a Northeast ALS Consortium (NEALS) site, ALL ALS Consortium site and ALS Association Center of Excellence, it is a priority to provide clinical trial opportunities to all of our patients regardless of diagnosis, disease severity and duration. We are supported not only by the ALS Association and the Muscular Dystrophy Association, but also the Harper’s Hope Fund for ALS and the VCU Fund for ALS and Neuromuscular Disorders.

Clinical trials  

ALS/MND Natural History Consortium – Active and enrolling
The FDA-funded ALS/MND Natural History Consortium is conducting a natural history study at 10 academic centers in the United States. Over 2,000 people living with ALS are currently enrolled in this study with nearly 300 patients enrolled at VCU.
Learn more about the ALS/MND Natural History Consortium

Primary Lateral Sclerosis Natural History Study - Active, not currently enrolling
VCU is participating in the Primary Lateral Sclerosis (PLS) Natural History Study. This study will study the disease progression of patients with PLS.
Learn more about the PLS Natural History Study

Healey Platform Trial - Active, not currently enrolling

VCU is participating in the Healey Platform Trial.
Learn more about the Healey Platform Trial

 

Pridopidine Expanded Access Program - Active and enrolling
Learn more about the Pridopidine Expanded Access Program

 

ALL ALS Consortium - Active and enrolling

VCU is one of the 34 NIH-funded sites of the Access for ALL in ALS Consortium. It will operationalize the Accelerating Access to Critical Therapies for ALS Act (ACT for ALS) Public Private Partnership.

Learn more about the ALL ALS Consortium

 

Research studies inspire the Rapid Access ALS Program

 

The VCU Health ALS clinic has been leading the field in the identification of racial disparities in diagnostic delay in ALS.  This work has been presented nationally twice at the NEALS Annual Meeting and is also published. It has resulted in the inception and creation of the Rapid Access ALS Program. This pilot program is a first of its kind nationally, allowing immediate access to an ALS expert and same day electrodiagnostic testing for any patient in the region suspected to have ALS. Such a clinic bypasses the unnecessary long wait times for community provider evaluations and electrodiagnostic testing. Faster diagnosis results in faster access to disease modifying treatments and better clinical outcomes. The VCU Health ALS clinic team also aims to educate community providers about the disease and provide the tools necessary to rapidly screen patients and refer them directly to the Rapid Access ALS Program. To be considered for the program, patients suspected to have ALS must be screened with the thinkALS tool.

 

Listen to Dr. Gwathmey discuss the impacts of having a rapid access clinic here. 

 

Learn more about how Dr. Gwathmey and others are advocating for a faster diagnosis.

 

Our team has also explored clusters or “hot spots” of ALS across Virginia. The spatial distribution of ALS across the Commonwealth was published in 2023 and has resulted in a deep exploration of possible environmental risk factors for ALS in these clusters with a multidisciplinary team of scientists including Dr. Laxmikant Deshpande, Dr. Gregory Walsh and Dr. Matthew Halquist. If you are a patient interested in participating in clinical research, please email: neuromuscular_research@vcuhealth.org.

 

Did you know?

 

92% of United States ALS Clinics are supported by philanthropic funds including the VCU Health ALS clinic. The Harper’s Hope Fund for ALS and the VCU Fund for ALS and Neuromuscular Disorders supports our team as insurance does not cover non-physician's time and work in the multidisciplinary clinic. A universal challenge nationally, Dr. Gwathmey has been tackling this problem as a member of the ALS Better Care Act Whip Group. If this bill is passed by Congress, qualified ALS multidisciplinary care clinics will receive a single $800 flat payment per ALS clinic visit to offset the cost of multidisciplinary care.

 

Learn more about the Harper’s Hope Fund for ALS or you can donate to the fund.

Choose a joint gift, corporate gift, anonymous gift or gift as a tribute to the VCU Fund for ALS and Neuromuscular Disorders.

 

Support groups

 

Care giver support group will meet on the 3rd Thursday of each month, 3-4 p.m. via zoom.

 

Our longstanding ALS clinic support group remains unchanged, meeting the 4th Thursday of each month from 3-4 p.m. via Zoom.

 

If you would like to be included in the monthly invitations, please send an email to our clinic social worker, Anne Shields at margaret.shields@vcuhealth.org.

 

Meet our team

 

Kelly Gwathmey, MD, ALS Clinic Director, Chair Neuromuscular Medicine Division; Associate Professor, Dept. of Neurology
Qihua Fan, MD, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Neurology
David Rothman, PhD, LCP, Clinical Psychologist
Lauren Mahoney, MD, Psychiatrist
Amanda Butler, DPT, Physical Therapist
Michelle Gebhardt, Nurse Navigator
Rebecca Rhodes, Registered Dietitian
Kendall Rodier, Genetic Counselor
Kiera Berggren, Speech Language Pathologist
Ashley Moneymaker, Occupational Therapist
Anne Shields, Social Worker
Demetrius Carter, Clinical Research Coordinator
Adriana Clegg, Clinical Research Coordinator
Brianna Schibley-Laird, Clinical Research Coordinator
Bridget Wilkins, Clinical Research Coordinator
Quyen Duong, Program Manager and Respiratory Therapist

 

Contact us

Michelle Gebhardt

804-828-0856 (phone)

804-807-7949 (fax)