We are changing neurodegenerative disease care as we have lived it

In 2017, we were in our 30’s, living in Chicago, working our dream jobs and raising our two year old daughter while expecting our second baby. On the day we brought our second daughter home from the hospital, I was told I had ALS by a general neurologist and he told me I had six months to live. The appointment lasted all of ten minutes.

Over the next several months, we saw six different ALS specialists in a desperate attempt to find out if he was wrong. With each new specialist, we ended up having to repeat the same test over and over again. We had to fight for basic testing, including genetic testing, and were left on our own to research every clinical trial and therapy as these clinicians were often unaware of them.  

In 2019, we launched I AM ALS, a patient-centric, patient-led nonprofit dedicated to rewriting the ALS story, which has grown to a community of over 50,000. Through I AM ALS, we met countless patients who told the same story about their diagnosis and care journey.

This same patient-centric spirit of change and empowerment animates everything we do at Synapticure. Neurodegenerative disease care today is hard. It should not be. It should be easy and accessible to everyone. It is time to leave behind the era of “I’m sorry but we can’t help you.”

Brian Wallach & Sandra Abrevaya

ALS Patient & ALS Caregiver

Leadership

Sandra Abrevaya, JD

Co-Founder, Chief Executive Officer

Brian Wallach, JD

Co-Founder, Board Co-Chair

Joe Leinbach

Chief Operating Officer

Peter Wallach, MBA

Co-Founder, Chief Financial Officer, Board Member

Jinsy Andrews, MD

Senior Medical Advisor

Jason Langheier, MD

Co-Founder, Board Co-Chair

Jonathan Hirsch

Co-Founder, Board of Advisors Chair

Christie Byrne

Head of Product

Graham Spencer

Interim Chief Technology Officer

Geoff Clapp

Product and Technology Advisor

Eric Anderson, MD PhD

VP of Clinical Operations and Care Delivery

Aaron Gitler, PhD

VP of Science

Team

Anuj Dhir, MD

Neurologist

Brook Croke

Genetic Counselor

Colin Byrne

Engineering and DevOps Lead

Crystal Theriault

Care Coordinator

Danielle Geraldi-Samara, MD

Neuromuscular Service Line Director

Danielle Weiss Mayourian, LMSW

Care Coordinator

Devin Scott

Medical Assistant

Erin Sanders, LCSW

Care Coordinator

Eva McCarthy

Care Coordinator

Iris Broce, PhD

Bioinformatics

Jaime Hatcher-Martin, MD, PhD

Movement Disorders Director

Krista Qualmann, MS, CGC

Genetic Counselor

Lillian McGrew, RN

Care Coordinator

Mark Koontz

Senior Associate Scientist

Martina de Majo, PhD

Co-Founder, Director, R&D

Mary Beth Skilton

Virtual Clinic Director

Meagan Gates, LCSW

Care Coordination Manager

Meaghan Smith

Communications Advisor

Melissa Stewart, LCSW

Care Program Development

Mercedes Guevara

Medical Assistant

Michelle Edwardson, RN

Care Coordinator

Rashaad Baten

Lead Designer

Sarah Coleman

Associate Scientist I

Shanay McKennie

Medical Assistant

Victoria James

Medical Assistant

Winona Koldyke

Executive Assistant to the co-founder

Scientific & Strategic Advisors

Adam Schlifke, MD, MBA

Stanford Anesthesia Digital Health Lead

Amy DuRoss

Advisor

Anton Arbatov, MHA, FACHE

Digital Health Expert, Adjunct Professor and Member of the Board of Advisors, College of Public Health, George Mason University

Bob Bowser, PhD

Deputy Chief Scientific Officer of Barrow Neurological Institute

Chhaya Shadra

Data and Product Strategy Advisor

Ethan Perlstein, PhD

Founder and CEO of Perlara

Jeff Rothstein MD, PhD

Director, Robert Packard Center for ALS Research at John Hopkins Medicine

Jeremy Shefner, MD, PhD

Chair of Neurology, Senior Vice President, Barrow Neurological Institute

Justin Ichida

John Douglas French Foundation Endowed Professor of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, University of Southern California

Lisa Suennen

Managing Partner, Venture Valkyrie, Faculty, Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley

Nathan Bays

Board of Directors, Unite US

Sami Barmada, MD, PhD

Director, Michigan Brain Bank and Neurology Associate Professor at University of Michigan Medical School

Expert Parkinson's Advisors

Alan Curtis

Person living with Parkinson's

Amy Armstrong

Person living with Parkinson's

Gerry Shultz

Person living with Parkinson's

Heather Walker

Caregiver of person living with Parkinson's

Hope Maruzo

Caregiver of person living with Parkinson's

Jim Contreras

Person living with Parkinson's

Maria De Leon

Person living with Parkinson's

Mary Stevens

Person living with Parkinson's

Patti Stevens

Person living with Parkinson's

Penelope Cox

Person living with Parkinson's

Sheryl Lowenhar

Person living with Parkinson’s

Terri Long

Person living with Parkinson's

Expert ALS Advisors

Amanda Stevens

Caregiver of person living with ALS

Bernie Zipprich

Person living with ALS

Brian Andre

Person living with ALS

Eben Cathey

Caregiver of person living with ALS

Eric Stevens

Person living with ALS

Evan Campa

Person living with ALS

Juan Reyes

Person living with ALS

Lori Andre

Caregiver of person living with ALS

Maceo Carter

Person living with ALS

Maya Carter

Caregiver of person living with ALS

Meg Reyes

Caregiver of Person Living with ALS

Michelle Lorenz

ALS Advocate

Mike Henson

Person living with ALS

Investors

GV

LifeForce Capital

Martin Ventures

Byers Capital

Y Combinator

Individual Investors

Ron Conway

SV Angel

Joe Kraus

Lime

Jeff Huber

GRAIL

Adam Koppel

Bain Capital

Gary Bisbee

Cerner

Nathan Bays

Citi

Rohan Seth

Clubhouse

Ben and Divya Silbermann

Pinterest/Tambourine