On May 12, 2021, the province of British Columbia provided the ALS Society of BC with $2 million for PROJECT HOPE to establish an ALS research professorship at University of British Columbia.

PROJECT HOPE established an ALS research professorship in collaboration with the University of British Columbia (UBC). This new, permanent ALS dedicated clinician/scientist offered patient care and further improve patient outcomes and research, with the goal of increasing access to clinical trials in British Columbia for local patients.

The clinician/scientist work out of the Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health (DMCBH) at UBC. Scientists at DMCBH also worked on Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s research, which provides an opportunity for collaboration between the study of these three neurodegenerative diseases.

This provincial investment supported the ALS Society of BC in improving care for people with ALS. In 2020, government provided $1 million to the ALS Society of BC to support its fundraising efforts.

In August 2020, the Ministry of Health also began providing coverage of edaravone, or Radicava, for patients living with ALS. In a clinical trial, edaravone helped slow the worsening of this disease in a select ALS patient subpopulation.