University Hospital Pitié-Salpêtrière

The objectives of the Paris ALS Reference Center are:
– Improve access to diagnosis and provide support during the announcement phase;
– organize the interdisciplinary
– Participate in data collection and research  programs;
– Participate in the activities of the FILSLAN, source: portail-sla.fr

Headed by Dr François Salachas, the Paris ALS expert Center of the Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital was created in 2002, and is one of the largest ALS centers in Europe in terms of both the number of new patients per year (400-500 /y) and the number of active patients (1400-1500/y), mostly patients with ALS but also with rare motor neuron disorders such as Primary Lateral Sclerosis or Kennedy’s disease). The Center’s team provides care at all stages of the disease, from diagnosing to treating complications. It offers a multidisciplinary approach and provides education for patients, families, students and health care professionals. Overall, the Center is dedicated to provide excellence in care for ALS patients while accelerating the development of effective treatments. The Paris ALS expert center’s team consists of 6 ALS expert neurologists and 1 expert in neurophysiology, all of whom are involved in both routine care activity and clinical trials involving ALS and MND patients.

For its clinical research activities, the Paris ALS expert center relies on a dedicated Clinical Research Team, coordinated by Prof Gaelle Bruneteau at the Clinical Investigation Center (CIC) of the Paris Brain Institute (Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital).

The CIC Neurosciences has dedicated offices and staff trained in clinical research to study neurological notably the ALS, under optimum conditions of quality, ethics and safety. It also has an MRI department with 2 MRI 3T MRI.

The ALS Clinical Research Team consists of one dedicated neurologist, one full-time project manager and two FTE clinical research associates (CRAs).

Over the past five years (2017-2023 period), the team has been involved in 15 therapeutic trials in the field of ALS and MNDs.