Subcommittee on Neurological Disease committee  Yes, there are a number of collaborations with various research groups around the world. For example, with regard to immunization, there is currently a collaboration with a Boston group with a view to humanizing the antibodies identified. Antibodies have been developed in mice. G

Subcommittee on Neurological Disease committee  It is very difficult to say. I am not directly involved in the clinical translation. The post-doctoral supervisor looks after that aspect. It is very difficult to establish a precise timetable.

Subcommittee on Neurological Disease committee  Yes, first patients have to be recruited. It may be very difficult to get them to agree to participate in the research project. It is a new technique and some patients may have concerns. Furthermore, the antibodies may have no effect or the effect may be moderated. There is also

Subcommittee on Neurological Disease committee  Yes, it's happening in Canada, for sure. During the national meetings of the Canadian neuroscience society--they organize a meeting every year--there is a lot of sharing of information.

Subcommittee on Neurological Disease committee  Yes, we are really optimistic. It's very difficult to study neurological diseases. It's difficult to get brain biopsies. Nobody wants to give them, so we are developing animal models, cellular models, to study those diseases. The technology is there. We have various animal mode

Subcommittee on Neurological Disease committee  The passive immunization that we are developing is based on the administration of monoclonal antibodies, antibodies specific to a protein called SOD1. A small number of patients possess mutations of this gene. It is believed that administering these antibodies to patients will el

Subcommittee on Neurological Disease committee  Neurological diseases involve neurons, and there are different types of neurons. We think that for all neurodegenerative diseases—for example, ALS, Alzheimer's, Huntington's—the same kinds of degenerative pathways are involved but different neurons are involved. In ALS, it's mo

Subcommittee on Neurological Disease committee  Fundamental research on ALS all across Canada is really a cost-effective type of research. To transition to clinics, I think it costs a lot of money. What you find in fundamental research is that it is very expensive to be able to transpose it to clinics. There's a good initiativ

Subcommittee on Neurological Disease committee  It is difficult to speak for the universities. However, it is definitely very frustrating for the young scientists. The next three years will be a rather stressful period, but I hope to have the opportunity to—

Subcommittee on Neurological Disease committee  It is true that up to 10% of patients have a genetic predisposition to the disease. The majority of patients have what is called sporadic ALS. We do not know what triggers ALS in these patients. Genes have been identified in what we call familial ALS, that is in cases where ALS i

Subcommittee on Neurological Disease committee  I am just at the beginning of my career and, therefore, it is difficult for me to talk about whether it was difficult to obtain research funding in the past. Over the years, there has been a reduction in research budgets, especially for the day-to-day operations of laboratories.

Subcommittee on Neurological Disease committee  It is actually very difficult. For example, in Quebec—and this may be the case in the other provinces— young researchers are given a three-year contract. During that time, they must obtain research funds from CIHR or another granting body. If they do not, the contract is not rene

Subcommittee on Neurological Disease committee  Good morning. My name is François Gros-Louis. I recently got an assistant professorship position at Université de Laval in Québec City. First of all, I would like to thank all members of this committee for this opportunity to say a few words on ALS and on my research on this di