Ammar Al-Chalabi is an NIHR Senior Investigator, Head of the Department of Basic and Clinical Neuroscience at King’s College London, co-Director of the UK National Institute for MND Research, and Professor of Neurology and Complex Disease Genetics at King’s College London, where he is Director of the ALS Care and Research Centre. He trained in Leicester and London, with visiting positions at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard University and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. He is the Programme Chair of the International Alliance of ALS/MND Associations. His team investigates factors that modify the risk of ALS, how ALS presents clinically, and the rate of ALS progression, using genetics, epidemiology and clinical trials. His research requires open science and collaboration, and as a result, he leads or co-leads several international projects, including STRENGTH, BRAIN-MEND, and an international whole genome sequencing initiative for ALS which he co-founded, Project MinE. He is the recipient of multiple awards, including the Forbes Norris Award, the Healey Center International Prize for Innovation in ALS and the Sheila Essey Award.