Since her diagnosis with ALS at age 32, Gwen Petersen has poured her energy into advancing the science of her disease. Gwen has participated in nearly forty observational ALS studies, one interventional trial with an experimental ALS therapy, and two expanded access programs with experimental therapies for ALS. Gwen is not the stereotypical ALS patient; thus, she does a lot of media work to dispel the myth that ALS is an older white man’s disease. Gwen and her husband have been married for five years and they are parents to an exuberant puppy. Prior to her diagnosis, Gwen worked as a Recruiter for one of the top ten medical centers in the country.