Overview

Like many organizations that fund research, we use a peer-review process for our research program. Regarded as the international benchmark of excellence in research funding, peer review engages a panel of independent researchers to evaluate and rank all proposed research projects based on their scientific merit and, in our case, their potential to advance ALS research. Proposals must achieve a certain ranking to be considered fundable. Of these, we fund as many projects as possible based on the available research dollars.

Our panel of reviewers is selected based on their expertise and knowledge in the ALS field. Our process ensures reviewers are unbiased and have no connection to the applications they review.

Applicants who are not successful in securing funding are provided with feedback, so they can strengthen their proposals and reapply for funding in the future.

All our programs undergo a similar peer-review process outlined below, except for our Acceleration Grant. Although a traditional peer-review process is necessary and the standard for funding programs, it can be a lengthy process that doesn’t always reflect the reality and pressing needs of the ALS community. To address the urgency of advancing ALS research, the goal of an Acceleration Grant is to propel an exciting line of research forward seamlessly, without the need for lengthy application, review, and administrative phases. It relies on a unique form of global peer review, where experts in the field proactively determine the best work to support rather than reactively evaluating applications.

How it works

In this research funding process, donor dollars drive progress as researchers submit proposals, undergo expert review, and receive allocations guided by ALS Canada’s Board of Directors.

PHASE 1

Donor dollars are pooled

Each year, a portion of donor dollars are earmarked for investment in ALS research.

PHASE 2

Researchers apply for funding

The awarding of grants begins with an invitation to the Canadian ALS research community to submit their research proposals. ALS Canada reviews all applications to ensure they are eligible and complete before they are moved on to the next phase.

PHASE 3

Expert review

ALS Canada recruits panels of experts in ALS and other neurodegenerative diseases to review the proposals. The panel meets to discuss the merits of each submission in detail after which all panel members assign a score to the proposal.

ALS Canada Board representatives and senior staff observe the process, along with at least one person who is living with ALS, but they do not
participate in the discussion or scoring.

The average scores are ranked and the top proposals are considered for funding. The panel then determines the list of projects they recommend for funding to the ALS Canada Board of Directors.

Note: In order to engage experts who don't have a connection to any of the proposals being reviewed, it is common to recruit panel members from beyond Canada. To enable panel members to freely critique research proposals, their names are not disclosed.
PHASE 4

Board of directors approval

The ALS Canada Board of Directors reviews the panel’s funding recommendations to reach a funding decision. The goal is to fund as many project as possible based on the research dollars that are available in a given year.

Infographic of our peer-review process

VIEW PDF

Peer Reviewers

In 2014, faced with unprecedented funds to invest in ALS research following the Ice Bucket Challenge, ALS Canada evolved our peer review process to include panels of international ALS experts for the first time. This breadth of involvement from the scientific community was identified to ensure that the research investments made would have an impact on the global effort towards better understanding and treating ALS.

Thank you to the 134 researchers, spread across 11 different countries, who have generously supported the ALS Canada Research Program by participating on at least one peer review panel between 2014 and 2023.

Peer reviewer distribution:

Europe: 26

USA: 47

Canada: 59

Australia: 2

See our panel of independent researchers

A-C

Federica Agosta
Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele

Turgay Akay
Dalhousie University

Jinsy Andrews
Columbia University

Julie Atkin
Macquarie University

Gary Armstrong
McGill University

Nazem Atassi
Massachusetts General Hospital

Yuna Ayala
Saint Louis University

Robert Baloh
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

Sami Barmada
University of Michigan

Grayson Beecher
University of Alberta

Veronique Belzil
Mayo Clinic Jacksonville

Ian Blair
Macquarie University

Sanjay Bidichandani
University of Oklahoma

Séverine Boilée
INSERM, France

Robert Bowser
Barrow Neurological Institute

Ari Breiner
University of Ottawa

Hannah Briemberg
University of British Columbia

Ross Buchan
University of Arizona

Emanuele Buratti
ICGEB Trieste

Neil Cashman
University of British Columbia

Avi Chakrabartty
University of Toronto

Marvin Chum
McMaster University

Don Cleveland
UC San Diego

Phillipe Corcia
University of Tours

Stefania Corti
University of Milan

Alyssa Coyne
Johns Hopkins University

Merit Cudkowicz
Massachusetts General Hospital

D-F

Vanina Dal Bello-Haas
McMaster University

Jacqueline de Belleroche
Imperial College London

Sandrine Da Cruz
KU Leuven

Patrick Dion
McGill University

Christopher Donnelly
University of Pittsburgh

Renée Douville
University of Manitoba

Cristian Droppelmann
Western University

Martin Duennwald
Western University

Nicolas Dupre
Université Laval

Heather Durham
McGill University

Andrew Eisen
University of British Columbia

Sali Farhan
McGill University

Steve Finkbeiner
University of California

Christina Fournier
Emory University

Mary Kay Floeter
National Institutes of Health

G-I

Tania Gendron
Mayo Clinic Jacksonville

Angela Genge
McGill University

Benoit Gentil
McGill University

Amer Ghavanini
Trillium Health Partners

Derrick Gibbings
University of Ottawa

Aaron Gitler
Stanford University

Jonathan Glass
Emory University

Amanda Gleixner
University of Pittsburgh

Linda Greensmith
University College London

François Gros-Louis
Université Laval

Orla Hardiman
Trinity College Dublin

Lindsey Hayes
Johns Hopkins University

Lawrence Hayward
University of Massachusetts

Terry Heiman-Patterson
Temple University

Erika Holzbaur
University of Pennsylvania

Annemarie Hübers
University Hospital Geneva

Jack Humphrey
Mount Sinai

Alfredo Iacoangeli
King’s College London

Justin Ichida
University of Southern California

Hristelina Ilieva
Thomas Jefferson University

J-L

Carlayne Jackson
University of Texas

Jie Jiang
Emory University

Wendy Johnston
University of Alberta

Kelvin Jones
University of Alberta

Edor Kabashi
ICM Brain & Spine Institute

Sanjay Kalra
University of Alberta

Janine Kirby
The University of Sheffield

Jasna Kriz
Université Laval

Rashmi Kothary
University of Ottawa

Charles Krieger
Simon Fraser University

Clotilde Lagier-Tourenne
Harvard University

John Landers
University of Massachusetts

Melanie Leitner
ALS Investment Fund

Chris Link
University of Colorado Boulder

Catherine Lomen-Hoerth
University of California

Collin Luk
University of Alberta

Cathleen Lutz
The Jackson Laboratory

Honglin Luo
University of British Columbia

M-O

Dale Martin
University of Waterloo

Geneviève Matte
Université de Montréal

Christopher McDermott
The University of Sheffield

Lara McManus
Trinity College Dublin

Elizabeth Meiering
University of Waterloo

Matthew Miller
McMaster University

Tim Miller
Washington University

Manuela Neumann
University of Tuebingen

Johnny Ngsee
University of Ottawa

Colleen O’Connell
Dalhousie University

Marlene Oeffinger
IRCM

Hande Ozdinler
Northwestern University

P-R

Udai Pandey
University of Pittsburgh

Jeehye Park
University of Toronto

Alex Parker
Université de Montréal

Piera Pasinelli
Thomas Jefferson University

Rickie Patani
The Francis Crick Institute

Kessen Patten
INRS Armand Frappier

Owen Peters
Cardiff University

Gerald Pfeffer
University of Calgary

Vincent Picher-Martel
Université Laval

Magdalini Polymenidou
University of Zurich

Silvia Pozzi
Université Laval

Mercedes Prudencio
Mayo Clinic Jacksonville

Rosa Rademakers
Mayo Clinic Jacksonville

Joel Ramirez
University of Toronto

John Ravits
University of California

Richard Robitaille
Université de Montréal

Victor Rafuse
Dalhousie University

Janice Robertson
University of Toronto

Jeffrey Rosenfeld
Loma Linda University

Wilfried Rossoll
Mayo Clinic Jacksonville

Maxime Rousseaux
University of Ottawa

S-Z

Rita Sattler
Barrow Neurological Institute

Kerri Schellenberg
University of Saskatchewan

Chantelle Sephton
Université Laval

Shan Sockanathan
Johns Hopkins University

David Stellwagen
McGill University

Kevin Talbot
University of Oxford

Alexander Tenenbaum
Sapienza University

Lisa Topolnik
Université Laval

Davide Trotti
Thomas Jefferson University

John Turnbull
McMaster University

Martin Turner
University of Oxford

Leonard van den Berg
UMC Utrecht

Michael van Es
UMC Utrecht

Ludo Van Den Bosch
KU Leuven

Christine Vande Velde
Université de Montréal

Jiou Wang
Johns Hopkins University

Yu Tian Wang
University of British Columbia

Ji-Young Youn
University of Toronto

Yeni Yucel
University of Toronto

Yana Yunusova
University of Toronto

Lorne Zinman
University of Toronto

Our Scientific and Medical Advisory Council (SMAC)

From time to time, we become aware of research opportunities that are beyond the scope of what is fundable through our peer-review process. In these cases, we typically engage our Scientific and Medical Advisory Council (SMAC) to assess these opportunities and recommend to the Board those that are deemed to be a good use of donor dollars.

Meet our Advisors