Register below to join the event
Revolutionizing ALS Research:
AMP ALS, ALL ALS & You
February 5, 2025 | 4PM PT, 7PM ET
Andrea Pauls Backman, MBA
Founder, ALS Strategy Consulting
Andrea Pauls Backman is the founder of ALS Strategy Consulting, which she formed to align the interests of people living with ALS alongside advocacy groups, regulators, funders, researchers, and industry in the ALS disease space to find solutions, not silos.
Andrea came to the ALS community as a former caregiver for her mother, whose passing from ALS prompted her to leave a long-time career in institutional investment management. Prior to forming ALS Strategy Consulting, Andrea served as CEO of the Les Turner ALS Foundation, as a board member of the International Alliance of ALS/MND Associations, and as a national trustee for The ALS Association. Currently, she serves on several working groups for AMP-ALS and is on the steering committee for the Access for ALL in ALS Consortium (ALL ALS). Andrea has held a variety of roles in the ALS community: she served as a committee member for the NINDS ALS Strategic Plan Priorities and as a consumer reviewer for the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program in ALS, and is the moderator for the CDC National ALS Registry’s annual research symposium and meeting. She collaborates with nearly every public and private ALS group in the country.
Andrea holds an MBA in Finance from DePaul University, a BBA in Public Accounting from Loyola University, a Certificate in Professional Studies in Nonprofit Management from Northwestern University and is a Certified Public Accountant (inactive) in the state of Illinois.
Shubhangi Lal
Project Manager, Neuroscience, FNIH
Shubhangi Lal is a Project Manager, Translational Science at the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH), where she leads the Accelerating Medicines Partnership® in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (AMP® ALS) initiative within the Neuroscience portfolio.
With over a decade of experience in evaluating and supporting early-stage pharmaceutical and biomedical technologies, Shubhangi is driven by a passion for accelerating their path to market and enhancing patient care. In previous roles, she successfully managed innovation teams, including startups and academic programs, guiding them through critical stages of technology commercialization. She has a proven track record of identifying and fostering strategic industry partnerships.
Shubhangi holds an MBA in Technology, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship from the Iniversity of Pittsburgh and earned both a Bachelor of Pharmacy and an MS in Biological Sciences from the Birla Institute of Technology and Science in India.
Dr. Amelie Gubitz , Ph.D.
Lead Program Director for ALS
Dr. Amelie Gubitz is a Program Director in the Division of Neuroscience at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), which is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Her grant portfolio includes basic, translational, and clinical research on amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). She also serves as the NIH co-lead of the Accelerating Medicines Partnership® ALS (AMP® ALS). Dr. Gubitz earned a Ph.D. in pharmacology from the University of Cambridge, UK, and performed her postdoctoral training at Harvard Medical School and the University of Pennsylvania. She has worked as a Senior Scientist in the target discovery group for neuropathic pain at Parke Davis, UK, and as a Research Assistant Professor at the University of Pennsylvania where she studied the molecular pathogenesis of spinal muscular atrophy.
Dina Lyon, MS, RN
Clinical Research Project Manager
Dina Lyon is a Clinical Research Project Manager for the Division of Clinical Research (DCR). Prior to joining DCR, she served as a Clinical Trial Manager at the National Institute on Deafness and other Communication Disorders, where she built and ran biologics & medical device trials.
Dina came to NIH from the VA, where she served as the inaugural Operations Director on Project INDEPTH, a joint research effort between the VA and the NIH aimed at discovering the underlying mechanisms of medically unexplained illness in Gulf War Veterans. Prior to that, Dina served as the Regulatory Research Scientist for the Air Force Research Lab, where she was the interagency liaison on FDA-regulated research. She also served as a Research Manager in the DoD Traumatic Brain Injury program, and spent nearly 10 years on Active Duty with the Army. Dina has been involved in medical device development & testing throughout this time, including support on industry sponsored trials in the artificial pancreas project at UVA, an effort which has since resulted in De Novo clearance of the first closed loop algorithm in Type I diabetes.
Dina's clinical background spans neurology, cardiac stepdown, medical-surgical, acute detox, and inpatient/geriatric psychiatric units. She has a BA in mathematics & biology, a BS in nursing, and a MS in biotechnology.
Dr. Amy Tsou, M.D., M. Sc.
Program Director
Amy Y. Tsou, MD, MSc is a Program Director in the Division of Clinical Research (DCR). Prior to joining DCR, she served as Co-Director of the ECRI- Penn Medicine Evidence-based Practice Center (EPC). Dr. Tsou completed medical, residency and fellowship training in neurology and neuromuscular medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. During fellowship, she also earned a Master's in Health Policy Research as a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholar. She has expertise in systematic reviews, comparative effectiveness research, clinical practice guideline development, decision support, and ethics. Dr. Tsou's work has involved collaborations with AHRQ, PCORI, and other organizations to perform high quality evidence synthesis to inform health care delivery, identify evidence gaps, and future research priorities. Her work has spanned a wide range of clinical areas including ALS, migraine, pediatric epilepsy, and most recently, individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. She maintains a clinical practice at the Corporal Michael J. Crescenz Veterans Affairs Medical Center and is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Neurology at the University of Pennsylvania.
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