The Brigance Brigade Foundation, a Maryland-based nonprofit, has announced a partnership with the National Institutes of Health ALS Research Lab to expand research on the racial and ethnic differences among cases of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. “There are also familial cases of ALS, which account for the remaining 5 percent of cases,” he said, noting that ALS is a disease that is diagnosed by process of elimination. ALS has been shown to have a genetic basis and finding genes that causes ALS will help scientist learn how to treat it, yet African-Americans don’t often volunteer for genetic research studies, Brigance said.