Neurology and Complex Disease Genetics, King’s College London

Ammar Al-Chalabi is the Head of the Department of Basic and Clinical Neuroscience and Professor of Neurology and Complex Disease Genetics at King’s College London, Director of the King’s Motor Neuron Disease Care and Research Centre at King’s College Hospital, and leads the National Institute for Health Research Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre’s Neuropsychiatry theme. Dr Al-Chalabi’s research and clinical activities are dedicated to the study and treatment of people with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND). Dr Al-Chalabi is one of the founders of the Treatment Research Initiative for the Cure of ALS (TRICALS), a group of 40 clinical sites 14 countries dedicated to performing collaborative clinical trials and research in ALS. He has brought innovations to accelerate the development of treatments for people with ALS, including developing the multistep model of ALS, developing a clinical staging system, co-founding the largest single disease whole genome sequencing study in the world (Project MinE), and with international colleagues, pioneering a series of collaborative projects allowing harmonised collection and sharing of clinical, genetic and other information collected from patients for research, including the STRENGTH and BRAIN-MEND consortia – all with the goal of understanding the causes of ALS and ensuring that we learn from every study regardless of its outcome. Dr Al-Chalabi is helping launch the first multi-country perpetual trial initiative in ALS, the TRICALS MAGNET Trial, a program that will greatly accelerate therapy development in ALS.

As the chair of the European Network to Cure ALS (ENCALS) Young Investigator Award Committee, Dr Al-Chalabi leads a programme to identify and reward excellent early career researchers in ALS.

In 1999, Dr Al-Chalabi received the International Alliance of ALS/MND Associations Young Investigator Prize. He also received the 2016 American Academy of Neurology Sheila Essay ALS award, a UK National Clinical Excellence award (Silver) and has twice been listed as one of the world’s most highly influential researchers (Clarivate Analytics 2018, 2019). Dr Al-Chalabi completed his medical degree at Leicester University and has held visiting appointments at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and the Thomas Aquinas University, Buenos Aires. He also obtained a Diploma in Statistics from the Open University. He served his neurology residency and fellowship at Leicester and London hospitals, including the National Hospital at Queen Square, St Thomas’s Hospital, and King’s College Hospital.