Early Recollections of the Formation of the Organisation
by Mavis Gallienne, Wendy Abrams, Rodney Harris and Peter Cardy, December 2012
The instigation of an international network to support organisations providing a range of services and promoting research into ALS/MND came about in 1987-88, when Peter Cardy commenced as the Chief Executive Officer of the MND Association of England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The MNDA initiated an annual Research Meeting, which would later become the International Symposium on ALS/MND (the first was called ‘Who Is Out There Researching Into MND?’).
As a result of those early meetings, delegates from ALS/MND associations around the world came to England, and discussions began about forming an international organisation whose aim would be to support associations providing care and services to people living with ALS/MND and also to promote and stimulate research. From these discussions, the Alliance was eventually born.
Official Notes – Alliance Founding Meeting, Solihull, Birmingham, 4-6 November 1992
Chairpersons of the Alliance since its inception in 1992 have been:
Eithne Frost of the Irish MNDA; Mavis Gallienne of MND Australia; Wendy Abrams of the Les Turner ALS Foundation, USA; Diane Heron of MNDA South Africa; Rod Harris of MND Victoria, Australia; Gudjon Sigurdsson of the MND Association of Iceland; Jeffrey Deitch of the ALS Hope Foundation, USA; Carol Birks of MND Australia; Steve Bell of the Motor Neurone Disease Association of England, Wales and N Ireland; and, since December 2018, Calaneet Balas of ALS Association, USA.