(L to R): ALS Association Florida Chapter CEO Ray Carson; ALS Clinic at Holy Cross Health Co-Directors Gustavo Alameda, M.D. and Nithya Mathai, DNP, APRN, FNP-C; ALS Association Florida Chapter Board Member Jo-Ann Clynch; Stan Meadows, Executive Director of the Phil Smith Neuroscience Institute at Holy Cross Health; ALS Association Florida Chapter Regional Programmer Manager Tiana Duana
May 20, 2022 – Recognizing the Phil Smith Neuroscience Institute Multidisciplinary ALS Clinic at Holy Cross Health as a Certified Treatment Center of ExcellenceSM, the ALS Association Florida Chapter presented the ALS Clinic team with a $25,000 grant to support operational excellence.
The only specialized care for ALS patients in Broward and Palm Beach counties, the Phil Smith Neuroscience Institute Multidisciplinary ALS Clinic at Holy Cross Health is also only one of only five Certified Treatment Centers of Excellence in Florida as named by the ALS Association.
“The Holy Cross Health multidisciplinary ALS Clinic provides specialized care, medications and the technology to treat our patients,” said Mark Doyle, president and CEO at Holy Cross Health. “We are so proud of the work we do at the Phil Smith Neuroscience Institute. Here patients have access to comprehensive care and leading-edge research and treatments.”
The Phil Smith Neuroscience Institute at Holy Cross Health is one of three national sites offering clinical trials in the treatment of patients with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS):
- The Healey Platform Trial is a 24-week trial with a goal to greatly accelerate the timelines toward effective ALS treatments and provide greater trial access for all those affected by the disease. The trial will test the effects of four different medications, Verdiperstat, CNM-Au8, Pridopidine and Trehalose. To enroll, patients must have a breathing capacity of greater than 50% and an onset of symptoms of less than three years.
- LabPals is an observational study that determines the biomarkers between an ALS and healthy subjects. The study is open and in need of healthy subjects to further the research.
- The Biogen Trial is open to ALS subjects and their family members who have tested positive for the SOD1 gene. If someone has a family history of ALS, the Holy Cross Health ALS Clinic will test the subject for the SOD1 gene.
- CLENE Trial is an expanded access program for those living with ALS who do not qualify for the Healey ALS Platform. The trial is currently closed for enrollment, but as patients discontinue treatment, new patients can be added.
“We are committed to researching and developing lifesaving therapies for treating patients with ALS,” said Gustavo Alameda, M.D., who is the co-director of the ALS Clinic at Holy Cross Health with Nithya Mathai, DNP, APRN, FNP-C. “To further our ALS research, we have a significant need for patients and in some cases family members to participate.”
Holy Cross Health opened the Phil Smith Neuroscience Institute and Phil Smith ALS and Movement Disorders Clinic in 2018. More than 15 neurologists and rehabilitation specialists at the Phil Smith Neuroscience Institute provide comprehensive neurological and neurosurgical care for a variety of conditions.
The Phil Smith Neuroscience Institute is located at 1931 NE 47th St., Fort Lauderdale. For questions, please call at 954-542-3450 or visit the ALS clinic at Holy Cross Health website.
About Holy Cross Health:
A member of Trinity Health, Fort Lauderdale-based Holy Cross Hospital, dba Holy Cross Health, is a full-service, non-profit, Catholic, teaching hospital operating in the spirit of the Sisters of Mercy. Holy Cross has been named one of the top 10 hospitals in the Miami metro area in U.S. News and World Report’s 2021-2022 Best Hospital rankings. Through strategic collaborations and a commitment to being a person-centered, transforming, healing presence, the 557-bed hospital offers progressive inpatient, outpatient and community outreach services and clinical research trials to serve as our community’s trusted health partner for life. Holy Cross Health also encompasses Holy Cross HealthPlex outpatient facility, urgent care centers and more than 50 Holy Cross Medical Group physician practices. To learn more about Holy Cross Health, visit holy-cross.com. Connect @holycross
