# Delineating Physiologic Mechanisms of Swallowing impairment and Decline in ALS

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA · 2020 · $352,075

## Abstract

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease causing progressive muscle
weakness and impairments in swallowing (dysphagia). Dysphagia leads to malnutrition, dehydration, tracheal
aspiration and pneumonia that contribute to 26% of ALS mortality. The current proposal is strongly motivated
by fundamental knowledge gaps that have contributed to sub-optimal clinical care of individuals with ALS
and a lack of formal practice guidelines in the management of progressive swallowing impairment in ALS.
The overarching goal of this work is to improve clinical practice by 1) increasing our understanding of
governing mechanisms and progression of dysphagia in ALS and 2) identification of sensitive biomarkers of
swallowing dysfunction to build a clinical dysphagia risk index tool. We will perform serial instrumental
swallowing evaluations in 100 individuals with ALS (50 bulbar-onset, 50 spinal-onset) from disease diagnosis
to feeding-tube dependence and provide critical longitudinal data to help establish the first time-course model
of ALS swallowing decline. Such a model is needed to guide best practice recommendations, optimal timing of
interventions, for planning and design of future clinical trials, and for interpretation of experimental treatment
effects. We will also test the discriminant ability and clinical utility of a set of promising clinical markers of
swallowing decline that are pragmatically designed for easy dissemination into ALS clinical settings. Our long-
term goal is to improve clinical care of swallowing disorders in ALS. The proposed study will deliver new
insights into the pathophysiologic mechanisms of unsafe and inefficient swallowing in ALS to drive the
development of future intervention strategies and lead to earlier and more accurate identification of
swallowing impairment. Earlier identification and better treatment strategies for swallowing dysfunction in ALS
will lead to improvements in oral intake, nutrition, pulmonary health and quality of life and ultimately reduce
aspiration pneumonia associated mortality in this challenging population.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9891114
- **Project number:** 5R01NS100859-04
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
- **Principal Investigator:** Emily Kate Plowman
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $352,075
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-04-01 → 2022-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9891114

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9891114, Delineating Physiologic Mechanisms of Swallowing impairment and Decline in ALS (5R01NS100859-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9891114. Licensed CC0.

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