A decade after their work sparked a revolution in patient empowerment and patient-centered medicine, PatientsLikeMe Co-Founders Jamie and Ben Heywood were awarded the 2016 Humanitarian Award by the International Alliance of ALS/MND Associations.

Inaugurated in 2000, the Humanitarian Award recognizes and encourages contributions to the fight against Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis/Motor Neurone Disease (ALS/MND) and is awarded to those whose work is of international significance for people affected by ALS/MND.

In presenting the award, the Alliance’s citation acknowledged the founding of both the patient network PatientsLikeMe and the ALS Therapy Development Institute (ALS TDI), the world’s first nonprofit biotechnology company. “When their brother was diagnosed with ALS at the age of 29, James Allen Heywood and Benjamin Heywood were devastated at his prognosis and at the lack of effective treatments for the disease. They saw firsthand how isolating ALS/MND can be. They took up these challenges as a family and, with family and friends, founded two organizations: ALS TDI, tasked with finding effective treatments for the condition, and PatientsLikeMe, to tackle social isolation and to collect data on what other drugs, interventions or supplements might make a difference to those with ALS/MND.”

Jamie Heywood thanked the association on behalf of his family and PatientsLikeMe members and staff and said the company is ready to lead the next decade of advancements in research and medicine, with and for patients. “We changed the rules by helping patients digitize and share their experience so they could make more informed decisions about how to live with and treat their condition. Now we’re embarking on the next stage of the journey by piloting biomarker discovery in ALS and other conditions. We hope many more patients will join us as we work together to find new answers.”