Target ALS film follows founder’s mission to transform research
Dan Doctoroff, who lost father, uncle to disease, was diagnosed in 2021
Target ALS has released a short documentary that follows the deeply personal journey of Dan Doctoroff, the organization’s founder and a person living with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), as he works to change the future of ALS research.
The 17-minute film, “Everyone Lives: Turning Vision Into Reality,” premiered Oct. 29 on YouTube. It offers an inside look at how Doctoroff, after losing his father and uncle to the disease, became inspired to launch Target ALS in 2013 and accelerate efforts to find effective ALS treatments.
His vision was to build a collaborative research model that removes barriers and speeds drug discovery, a mission that took on new urgency following his own diagnosis in 2021.
“I have no doubt that for certain segments of the ALS population, people are going to be able to live, sometime in the next five years, much longer lives. I think as we look out 10 years, we can foresee a day where everybody lives with ALS. And that’s the ultimate goal,” Doctoroff said in the documentary.
Live discussion, community Q&A followed film’s premiere
The event invited viewers worldwide — including people living with ALS, caregivers, and loved ones — to join in and discuss the future of ALS research.
Following the premiere, Doctoroff joined Target ALS CEO Manish Raisinghani, PhD, and Hemali Phatnani, PhD, director of the Center for Genomics of Neurodegenerative Disease at the New York Genome Center, for a live discussion on how Target ALS’s approach is driving faster scientific progress.
Everything that Target ALS has wrought is a testament to Dan’s vision.
Viewers can still watch the film online, which also includes a community Q&A following the screening and live chat.
“This film reflects our collective resolve to transform what’s possible in ALS research, built upon the vision and values Dan has instilled at the core of Target ALS,” Raisinghani said in a Target ALS press release. “It’s a story about breaking down barriers and challenging the status quo to drive us toward a future where everyone lives.”
Since its founding, Target ALS has funded more than 750 research grants and supported more than 1,700 projects globally. Through its ALS Global Research Initiative, the organization has launched 14 research sites and created shared resources — including biological samples, data, and tools — to promote collaboration across academia and industry with the goal of accelerating drug discovery.
“Target ALS has contributed in enormous ways, both from bringing together researchers to share ideas, to fostering collaboration, to paying for the research, enabling this research to happen that would not have happened otherwise,” Stacie Weninger, PhD, Target ALS board member, said in the film.
Phatnani singled out Doctoroff’s contributions.
“Everything that Target ALS has wrought is a testament to Dan’s vision,” Phatnani said.
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