Unraveling ALS: Environmental Insights Ahead by Stephen Goutman 

Stephen Goutman, MD, MS, FAAN is an Associate Professor in the Department of Neurology, Director of the Pranger Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Clinic, and Associate Director of the ALS Center of Excellence at Michigan Medicine. After obtaining a degree in neuroscience at the Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, MD), Dr. Goutman completed his medical degree at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine (Chicago, IL) and his neurology residency and neuromuscular fellowship at Cleveland Clinic (Cleveland, OH). He received a Master’s in Clinical Research Design and Statistical Analysis at the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, MI).
Inspired by his patients, Dr. Goutman’s research focuses on identifying new mechanisms and therapies for ALS. Specifically, he has been seeking to understand the genetic and environmental interactions that alter susceptibility to ALS, especially in the State of Michigan, which has some of the highest rates of ALS in the country. With funding from the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the ALS Association, he is discovering environmental risk factors associated with the onset and progression of ALS by collecting epidemiologic exposure surveys and biofluids from individuals with and without ALS. The ultimate goal is to one day make ALS a preventable disease.
Dr. Goutman serves as the site principal investigator of several multi-site clinical trials focused on identifying new ALS treatments. He is an active participant with the Northeast ALS Consortium (NEALS) and has close to a decade of experience leading ALS clinical trials at University of Michigan.