Research

May is dedicated to raising awareness about Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, and the people affected by it. ALS is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. The causes of ALS are unknown, and there’s currently no cure. Therefore, research is critical to helping scientists and persons living with ALS better understand the disease. The National ALS Registry, a program that collects, manages, and analyzes data about persons with ALS, focuses on collecting information to help scientists learn more about who gets ALS, its potential causes, and possible treatments...

On November 30, the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) released the first federal homelessness research agenda in more than a decade, aimed at shaping federal investments in homelessness research by offering a roadmap for academic researchers, philanthropy, students, and others committed to understanding what works to prevent and end the crisis of homelessness in the United States. This agenda was developed with significant public input from researchers, people with lived experience of homelessness, national organizations, and experts from federal agencies.

ACL released the first Research Agenda for Adult Protective Services (APS). The goals of the Research Agenda include: • Providing guidance to researchers, APS programs, and funders to help advance the field • Highlighting gaps in research in order to inform the APS field • Helping build a cohesive body of evidence for the APRS field. ACL, in collaboration with a panel of adult maltreatment experts, identified and ranked 61 high-priority APS research questions for the Research Agenda.

On October 6, 2015, a public workshop was convened by the Institute of Medicine and the Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education to learn about the supports that are needed for community living and maximizing independence. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine published a summary of the workshop that includes the policy and research that is needed to support independent living in the community.