Impossible Is Not an Option
Written by Dan Doctoroff
May 26, 2026
For a long time, ALS was something that haunted my family.
My father died from ALS in 2002. Years later, my uncle was diagnosed, too. He died in 2010. He understood the devastation of this disease intimately, and we understood that most people believed that ALS was impossible to solve.
That belief is wrong.
When we founded Target ALS, we did so because we believed the problem wasn’t a lack of brilliant scientists or promising ideas. The problem was that the system wasn’t built to move fast enough. Researchers were working in silos. Data wasn’t being shared openly. Too many barriers stood between discovery and treatment.
So we decided to do something differently. We went all in on collaboration. All in on urgency. All in on the belief that if you bring the best people together and give them the tools, resources, and freedom to work collectively, progress accelerates.
And it has.
Today, breakthroughs that once felt unimaginable are happening in labs around the world. Discoveries are building on one another faster than ever before. Researchers are sharing data in real time. Companies are entering the field at a pace we have never seen before. For the first time, I genuinely believe we can see a future where ALS becomes treatable.
But science alone doesn’t move movements forward. People do.
Being all in means refusing to accept hopelessness. It means believing that urgency matters. It means understanding that awareness is not just about tragedy. It’s about possibility. About momentum. About giving researchers the support they need to keep going faster.
Everyone has a role to play.
Some people will fund research. Others will participate in studies. Some will share stories, advocate, raise awareness, or bring new people into this movement. Some will simply choose to believe that ALS is not beyond our ability to solve.
All of that matters.
This May, we are inviting everyone to go all in.
Because impossible is not an option.
And if we continue to move together with the same urgency, collaboration, and determination that have brought us this far, I believe we can change the future of this disease.
Dan
