There was a Door to which I found no Key:

There was a Veil past which I could not see:

Some little Talk a while of ME and THEE There seemed –

and then no more of THEE and ME.   Omar Khayyam

 

 

About the Author

Dr. Siobhan Ellison received a PhD in molecular biology in 2001 from the University of Florida where she had previously completed a Master’s degree program in veterinary microbiology in 1976 and a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine in 1983. Her PhD thesis was a study in molecular biology, cloning a novel gene from Sarcocystis neurona that became the basis for assisting in diagnosing equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM). After she left UF, Dr. Ellison developed the only successful EPM horse infection model. The model was useful in testing treatments intended for horses with EPM.

Since 2001, she has continued her research and her publications tell the story of EPM that contradict the dogma promoted by those in the EPM field, especially those involved in developing treatments for big pharmaceutical companies. The novel assays that she developed enabled veterinarians to diagnose, treat, and manage polyneuritis equi, a devastating neuromuscular disease in horses.

After learning about a friend’s diagnosis of ALS, she set upon a path to create a Virtual Laboratory of researchers collaborating with goals to develop tools for investigating disease pathogenesis, diagnosis, and treatment. She created the not-for-profit Neurodegenerative Disease Research Inc. making funding available to scientists and for their discoveries to be open-sourced to all who are interested.

Dr. Ellison invented a novel molecule, TVALA®. It is an extension of her many years of work with neurodegenerative disease in horses.  TVALA® may impact multiple disease pathways in ALS and NDR is taking the treatment to ALS patients by making the drug available through the compassionate care program.

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