Hospital for Special Care launches ALS Clinical Trials Unit at Neuromuscular Center

Hospital for Special Care announced today the launch of the region's first Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) Clinical Trials Unit at its Neuromuscular Center.  The new unit will be headed by Jinsy A. Andrews, M.D., a physician researcher recruited from Columbia University.  Dr. Andrews, Director of Research & Clinical Trials Unit, Hospital for Special Care, specializes in neuromuscular research and will facilitate the hospital's first clinical trial for ALS upon her arrival.  

"In two short years, Hospital for Special Care has become the largest center for the treatment of neuromuscular disease between New York and Boston, and the launch of the clinical trials research will bolster this expansion of care," said John Votto, HSC President and CEO.   "Dr. Andrews' affiliation with HSC will further extend our patient base into the New York City and Fairfield County metro regions."  

The Clinical Trials Unit will focus on three major areas of research:

• Experimental drug trials for ALS and other neuromuscular disorders
• National Institutes of Health (NIH)-sponsored clinical research and epidemiology studies
• "Medical Home" research (complete coordination of care in one clinical setting)

The Neuromuscular Research and Clinical Trials Unit at HSC is the only one of its kind in Connecticut, and one of three in the New England and New York City region.  

"Our unit has received institutional review board approval to participate in the 'Ceftriaxone in ALS' trial," said Hospital for Special Care Chief of the Department of Neuromuscular Medicine and Director of the Neuromuscular Center, Kevin J. Felice, D.O.  "With the assistance of our neuromuscular team, Dr. Andrews will test Ceftriaxone's ability to mitigate ALS symptoms and provide increased quality of life."

Dr. Jinsy Andrews is a graduate of Albany Medical College and completed her neurology residency at the University of Connecticut Health Center.  At Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, she completed fellowships in Clinical Neurophysiology, Neuromuscular Medicine and Clinical Trials, and patient-oriented biostatistics and research.  

HSC's Neuromuscular Center is staffed by physicians and healthcare providers from many disciplines.  Together, they comprise the core of the "medical home" provided to each patient and his or her family.  This includes coordinating the physical, psychological, social and spiritual care for every ALS or MD patient with HSC serving as "home base."  

Established in 2007, The Neuromuscular Center at Hospital for Special Care has a caseload of 150 ALS patients and 700 adult and pediatric patients with muscular dystrophy and other chronic neuromuscular disorders.  The Center's ALS Clinic is one of only 35 such programs in the nation.