Les Turner, a Chicago area businessman, beloved husband and father, was diagnosed with ALS in 1976. Frustrated by the lack of information and research on ALS at the time, he and his family and friends started the Foundation in 1977, just a year before Les' tragic death at age 38. The founders wanted ALS patients and families of the future to have the resources, support, and hope for a cure unavailable to Les.
A cornerstone of the Foundation's mission is the support of two world-class ALS research laboratories in partnership with Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. The Foundation's researchers lead the way in the push toward new treatments and therapies and the hope of an eventual cure for ALS.
In addition to research, the Foundation supports comprehensive patient services, including the Les Turner/Lois Insolia ALS Center, the Home Care and Community Services Team, a communications and medical equipment program, respite grants, support group meetings, and much more. Through these, the Foundation serves 90% of the ALS patients and families in the Chicago area.
Since 1977, the Les Turner ALS Foundation has been Chicagoland's leader in patient services, research, and education for Amytrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), better known as Lou Gehrig's disease, and other motor neuron diseases (MND).
