In 2009, Joan Coates, a veterinary neurologist, along with other researchers at the University of Missouri and the Broad Institute at MIT/Harvard, found a genetic link between degenerative myelopathy (DM) in dogs and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig’s disease in people. Now, researchers have found that a biomarker test that helps diagnose ALS also can assist with determining a diagnosis for degenerative myelopathy. Coates and her research team are seeking clinical trial participants to evaluate a treatment for canine DM.