On Thursday, August 23, 2018, Robert G. Kalb, MD, the Director of the Les Turner ALS Center at Northwestern Medicine was invested as the Les Turner Professor at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern. An endowed professorship is the highest academic award that a university can bestow on a faculty member. The professorship recognizes the continued contributions and talents of Dr. Kalb in our shared vision of seeing a world free of ALS. The Les Turner Professorship marks the second time the Les Turner ALS Foundation has awarded a professorship at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
As with any endowed professorship, this professorship protects Dr. Kalb’s time by providing him and his team support in their research pursuits. Dr. Kalb’s laboratory focuses on the cell and molecular biology of motor neuron diseases. His laboratory is partnering with the pharmaceutical industry to leverage observations made in his laboratory to create novel therapeutics. In addition to his research, Dr. Kalb treats people living with ALS at the Lois Insolia ALS Clinic, part of the Les Turner ALS Center at Northwestern Medicine.
Dr. Kalb’s major goal for the Les Turner ALS Center at Northwestern Medicine is to enhance collaborations between laboratories and the clinic to lead to effective new treatments for ALS and a path toward a cure. A key imperative is the promotion of basic science research at Northwestern that can be used to bring new concepts to the clinic to provide the best care for patients
