ALS researcher who was diagnosed with disease dies

Dr.  Rahul Desikan, a scientist at the University of California, San Francisco, who dedicated his career to the study of neurodegenerative diseases before being diagnosed himself with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, died this week at age 41, the school announced late yesterday. Desikan was diagnosed with a rapidly progressing form of ALS in February 2017 and soon lost his ability to speak, walk, and use his hands. But he continued to work with the help of specialized computer equipment that allowed him to communicate through blinking and other eye movements. In the short span between his diagnosis and his death, he was an author, often the senior one, of 25 papers on neurodegenerative diseases, UCSF said.  "I love my research," he told The Washington Post late year, "and it gives me reason to live.”