Please join Wayne State University's Center for Leadership in Environmental Awareness and Research (CLEAR) and Center for Urban Responses to Environmental Stressors (CURES) for their upcoming hybrid seminar, "Beyond Genes: How Environmental Exposures Shape ALS Risk," on October 15, 2026 from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. The seminar is free; registration is required.

The guest speaker will be Dr. Eva Feldman, the James W. Albers Distinguished University Professor, the Russell N. DeJong Professor of Neurology and a professor of neurosurgery at the University of Michigan Medical School. She is also the Director of the Scott Neurology Pranger ALS Center of Excellence and the NeuroNetwork for Emerging Therapies, a basic science laboratory of 30 scientists.

Abstract

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) has long been viewed through a genetic lens, yet most cases occur in individuals without a known causative mutation. Our work supports a gene-time-environment model of ALS, in which cumulative lifetime exposures, collectively termed the ALS exposome, interact with aging and genetic susceptibility to influence disease risk and progression. Using large case-control cohorts, biospecimen-based exposomics, geospatial analyses, and detailed assessments of occupational, lifestyle, and environmental exposures, we have identified associations between ALS and persistent organic pollutants, pesticides, occupational exposures, and other environmental factors. We further demonstrate that the cumulative burden of these exposures, summarized as environmental risk scores, correlates with both ALS risk and survival. Together, these findings move the field beyond genes alone and toward a future in which exposure mitigation, risk prediction, and personalized prevention strategies may help reduce the burden of ALS.

Biography

Feldman has made contributions to biomedical research and clinical care in many critical areas of neurodegenerative disease. Her primary focus has been on amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Alzheimer's disease, cognitive decline, and the neurologic complications of diabetes and obesity, as well as how environmental toxins affect the nervous system. Her work has defined the ALS exposome and as a result, ALS is now a mandatory reportable disease in Michigan since 2024.

Feldman is annually listed in Best Doctors in America, is a member of the Association of American Physicians and the National Academy of Medicine and is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Feldman has authored four books, over 650 articles and 75 book chapters with >82,500 citations and a google H index of 138. She has been continuously NIH-funded since 1989. Feldman served as president of the American Neurological Association (2011-2013), is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine (NAM), is a member of the NAM executive council and most recently was appointed to the National Research Council of the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine.