An article by Avital Pushett who lost her father to ALS at the age of 13

Author: Avital Pushett  ;  January 2017

Imagine as a child, watching as your father deteriorated before your eyes, every week another function slowly disappearing. Unable first to button his shirt, then losing the ability to drive, to walk, to move, to eat and finally, to speak.

Imagine being there and being helpless, unable to halt the relentless decline…

14 years ago, my father was diagnosed with ALS. ALS is a progressive neurodegenerative disease leading to full body paralysis and ultimately death. To this day no cure has been found.

Back then, it was a relatively unknown disease, with no potential cure on the horizon. The research was minimal, very little was offered in terms of treatment and the technology available to assist ALS patients in dealing with their physical symptoms was much less advanced than today.  Since then, research has come a long way. A few years ago, the Ice Bucket Challenge brought ALS into the limelight, and drastically raised awareness of the illness.

My father passed away 2 years after being diagnosed, at the age of 44. Growing up with the disease, I dealt with the ramifications of his illness, which defined me in many ways. It inspired me to pursue my degree in Biology, and to continue to earn a Masters as well. It has been my life long goal to contribute to the finding of a treatment for ALS. I felt therefore, that it was no coincidence when about six months ago I was given the opportunity to collaborate with Alon Ben-Noon, CEO of NeuroSense Therapeutics, an Israeli biotech startup company.

Israel, being the innovative country that it is, has risen to the challenge of finding a treatment for ALS. Some of the main players in the Israeli contribution to research have been men who themselves were diagnosed with ALS – Avichai Kremer, founder of "Prize4Life",  Shay Rishoni, CEO of “Prize4Life”, and David Cohen z”l, founder of IsrALS, to name just a few. There are also several Israeli companies contributing to this cause.

One of these companies is NeuroSense Therapeutics, which I am honored to be a part of. Our goal is ambitious - to cure ALS, or at least stop disease progression at a very early stage. To that end we are working on the development of an effective groundbreaking treatment. We know that it is not a question of "if", but rather a matter of "when" we will achieve our goal.

NeuroSense Therapeutics is a Biotech company focusing on microRNAs (miRNAs) as a novel target for ALS, based on research by Prof. Eran Hornstein from the Weizmann Institute of Science. miRNAs have emerged as crucial regulators of motor neuron function.  Low functionality of an enzyme called Dicer in ALS patient’s motor neurons leads to impaired miRNA maturation.

  At NeuroSense Therapeutics, we are working on a molecule that enhances Dicer activity. Our plan is to make this drug available within the next 6 years, and we are currently preparing for a clinical study in ALS patients.

Recently, Prof. Hornstein and Alon Ben-Noon, CEO of NeuroSense Therapeutics, participated in the annual ALS symposium in Dublin, where Prof. Hornstein delivered a presentation about his research into miRNAs. They met many highly recognized ALS experts, who showed enthusiasm for these novel findings, and expressed interest in collaborating with NeuroSense Therapeutics in future clinical studies.

Being part of the team that is working to develop a cure for ALS is extremely meaningful to me, and I am very thankful for the opportunity. I am hopeful that one day soon, the future for those who receive the same dark diagnosis that my father received 14 years ago, will be much brighter.

  In Loving Memory of My Father, Michael Pushett

 Avital Pushett is 25, married to Itai, and lives in Jerusalem. She is the oldest of five children. Avital has a BA in Biology and Business Management, and is an MSc student - both from The Hebrew University. Avital currently works in a Stem Cell research lab.

NeuroSense Therapeutics