If you or someone you love has been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's or Charcot's disease, the ALS Center at The George Washington University Medical Faculty Associates offers specialized services to help manage symptoms.

A Multidisciplinary Approach
ALS is the most common form of motor neuron disorders in adults. Accurate diagnosis, prognosis and treatment implementation require a sophisticated multidisciplinary approach, due to the complexity of ALS syndromes and variants, which might involve the muscles of the extremities, breathing and voice.

The Center is the only one in the Washington, DC area that is certified by the ALS Association, a national organization that selects and recognizes institutions based on their healthcare staffs' knowledge and experience with ALS. Other criteria evaluated by the Association include the availability of advanced diagnostic and imaging techniques and quality and breadth of related services.

The Center provides comprehensive care for patients with ALS. Advanced clinical research protocols bring to patients new avenues in the fight against this disease.

Dedicated Team of Specialists The following professionals support patient care at the Center:

1. Elham Bayat, MD, board-certified neuromuscular neurologist and ALS Center Director
2. Susan Hasselquist, MD, board-certified pulmonologist and ALS Center Co-Director
3. Lorenzo Norris, MD, neuropsychologist
4. Board-certified gastroenterologist and interventional radiologist
5. Neuromuscular nurse practitioner
6. Clinical research coordinator
7. Physical, occupational, speech and nutritional therapists
8. ALS-specialized social workers
9. Speech-device specialist

The Center offers neurological exams, nerve conduction and imaging studies and muscle and nerve biopsy to diagnose ALS. The Center then provides education and therapy to help patients and their families manage ALS symptoms and maintain independence for as long as possible.

Would You Like to Learn More?
To make an appointment, or for more information, please call the ALS Center at 202-741-2731.

900 23rd St., NW, Washington, DC 20037 (202) 715-4000