Sheffield researcher wins global prize for extraordinary contributions to motor neurone disease research and care
9 May 2025
Leading clinician Professor Chris McDermott has been named a recipient of The ALS Association's 2025 Sheila Essey Award for his extraordinary contributions to motor neurone disease research and care.
Presented during the 2025 American Academy of Neurology annual meeting, the prestigious award, funded by the Essey family through the American Brain Foundation in partnership with the ALS Association, ALS Network, and the American Academy of Neurology recognises individuals making a profound impact in the fight against amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a motor neuron disease (MND) characterised by the gradual degeneration and death of motor neurones in the brain and spinal cord, leading to muscle weakness.
For the last two decades, Professor Chris McDermott, Honorary Consultant Neurologist and a co-director of The Sheffield Care and Research Centre for Motor Neurone Disorders based at the Department of Neurology, Royal Hallamshire Hospital, has dedicated his career to making ALS a livable disease by developing meaningful clinical interventions and treatments.
“As a resident neurology doctor, I was struck by the lack of effective treatment and the lack of evidence to inform care for people living with ALS. It was clear to me then that as a neurologist I had a responsibility to get involved,” said Professor McDermott, who also a professor of translational neurology at the University of Sheffield’s School of Medicine and Population Health.
Delivering supportive and sympathetic care
Committed to delivering supportive and sympathetic care to people diagnosed with ALS, he has played a crucial role in designing and developing patient-centric devices and services that are now in wide clinical use around the world. Examples of these include an innovative device for neck weakness called the HeadUp collar and a telehealth service that enables access to remote ALS care.
In 2011, Professor McDermott launched a clinical trial to test the efficacy of surgically implanting a diaphragm pacemaker in people with ALS experiencing respiratory failure. This work showed that not only is this treatment ineffective, but it is actually harmful, leading to a significant change in clinical practice.
"I have always felt that while we wait for a cure, it is important that care is evidenced-based and that we support people with things that can help them while protecting them from things that do not work.”
Accelerating development of new therapies
Professor McDermott is also challenging the way ALS clinical trials are conducted, driving the ALS research community to develop more efficient studies. He is currently leading the groundbreaking EXPErimental medicine Route To Success in ALS (EXPERTS-ALS) study, which aims to accelerate the development of ALS drug therapies.
The study is designed to rapidly screen potential new therapies for ALS to see if they are able to slow down damage to the nervous system. Although EXPERTS-ALS cannot prove that a drug will be effective as an ALS treatment, it can quickly identify the most promising candidate drugs to go forward into the larger clinical trials that can.
Professor McDermott’s commitment to accelerating the development of new treatments and establishing the evidence base for delivering the highest quality of care to people living with the disease make him a true leader in the field, according to Kuldip Dave, Ph.D., senior vice president of research at the ALS Association.
Making progress in improving care
“I have worked closely with Chris over the last few years through his involvement in the ALS Association’s Research Committee,” Dr. Dave said. “His leadership is helping to drive the EXPERTS-ALS initiative, which is both an innovative and a rigorous approach to rapidly identifying and moving effective treatments forward. I am so glad that he was selected as a co-recipient of this year’s Sheila Essey Award—it is a well-deserved honor.”
Professor McDermott is humbled to be a co-recipient of this year’s Sheila Essey Award.
“I accept the award on behalf of the great teams I have worked with over the years. Making progress in the fight against ALS requires collaboration, and I have been fortunate to have worked with many smart people,” he said.
There is sadly much still to be done, and I accept the award with a promise to continue to work to improve care and find a cure for ALS.”
Professor McDermott intends to invest his $25,000 prize in the next generation of ALS researchers. “I plan to support early career researchers and help them get their ALS research going,” he said. “The more people joining the fight against ALS, the faster we will find a cure.”
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