The Canadian ALS Neuroimaging Consortium (CALSNIC) - a multicentre platform for standardized imaging and clinical studies in ALS

Background Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a disabling and rapidly progressive neurodegenerative disorder. Increasing age is an important risk factor for developing ALS, thus the societal impact of this devastating disease will become more profound as the population ages. A significant hurdle to finding effective treatment has been an inability to accurately quantify cerebral degeneration associated with ALS in humans. Advanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques hold promise in providing a set of biomarkers to assist in aiding diagnosis and in efficiently evaluating new drugs to treat ALS. Methods The Canadian ALS Neuroimaging Consortium (CALSNIC) was founded to develop and evaluate advanced MRI-based biomarkers that delineate biological heterogeneity, track disease progression, and predict survival in a large and heterogeneous sample of ALS patients. Findings CALSNIC has launched two studies to date (CALSINC-1, CALSNIC-2), acquiring multimodal neuroimaging, neurological, neuropsychological data, and neuropathological data from ALS patients and healthy controls in a prospective and longitudinal fashion from multiple centres in Canada and, more recently, the United States. Clinical and MRI protocols are harmonized across research centres and different MR vendors. Interpretation CALSNIC provides a multicentre platform for studying ALS biology and developing MRI-based biomarkers. Funding Canadian Institutes of Health Research, ALS Society of Canada, Brain Canada Foundation, Shelly Mrkonjic Research Fund ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. ### Clinical Trial NCT02405182 and [NCT03362658][1] ### Clinical Protocols ### Funding Statement CALSNIC is funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the ALS Society of Canada, the Brain Canada Foundation, and the Shelly Mrkjonjic Research Fund. ### Author Declarations I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained. Yes The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below: The study was approved by the health research ethics boards of each participating site, and all participants gave written informed consent. All necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived. Yes I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance). Yes I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines and uploaded the relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material as supplementary files, if applicable. Yes Details of the protocols in this manuscript will be made available at . [1]: /lookup/external-ref?link_type=CLINTRIALGOV&access_num=NCT03362658&atom=%2Fmedrxiv%2Fearly%2F2020%2F08%2F13%2F2020.07.10.20142679.atom