Project Mosaic: a new paradigm of personalized ALS medicine
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Project Mosaic: Help Bring Precision Medicine to ALS
An update from Bernie — September 2026
My name is Bernie Zipprich. I was diagnosed with ALS in 2020, at 32. I’m a husband, a father, and a healthcare entrepreneur working with scientists to change how treatments are developed for this disease.
ALS differs enormously from person to person. Project Mosaic is building tools to help researchers understand those differences—and develop treatments around them.
A little over a year ago, our expected funding fell through just as we were ready to begin. More than 500 people stepped in, contributing approximately $115,000 to get our first experiments underway.
That work is now producing results.
What happened in Year One
- We completed our first laboratory pilot with iXCells. It moved patient-derived ALS models from academic promise toward industrial use—reproducing two key molecular signals and clarifying what must be solved before scaling.
- We accelerated our AI research. Our analyses identified candidate molecular groups in ALS data that we are now working to test in independent datasets.
- We built a global collaboration. More than 60 collaborators across seven countries contributed scientific expertise, practical experience, and time.
- We earned competitive recognition and further funding. Mosaic joined the inaugural Longitude Prize on ALS Discovery Cohort, receiving an award of approximately $130,000 to advance our AI target-discovery work.
100% of the initial GoFundMe proceeds ($111,249 after GoFundMe fees) supported our disease-model pilot, which cost $116,464. Our Year One progress report shares the findings, the challenges, and what comes next.
What we learned—and how the plan evolved
We originally envisioned a large consortium of disease-modeling labs. The coordinated funding needed for that program did not materialize. Meanwhile, our pilot, new ALS research, and advances in AI pointed toward a more focused approach.
We will begin with existing human data to identify recurring biological patterns, then build or select patient-derived models to test the most promising ideas.
The goal remains the same: treatments tailored to the biology of the people who need them.
What your next donation will support
The Longitude award is helping fund our target-discovery work. Continued community support will help advance the broader research program, including:
- Earlier diagnosis: Evaluate a candidate blood test that could help identify ALS sooner.
- Better trials: Test whether molecular subtypes can help predict treatment response.
- A foundation for scale: Build an open-access research platform connecting biological findings with biomarkers and potential drug targets so we can begin to match treatments with ALS patients
New donations will support the scientific work needed to test these ideas. These are research goals; the tests and subtypes still need validation.
Where the money goes
All proceeds from this campaign support Project Mosaic research.
Project Mosaic is the research initiative of Mosaic Neuroscience, a for-profit public benefit corporation formed before this campaign began. Our chartered mission is to accelerate precision drug development for neurodegenerative diseases.
The research funded here lays the scientific foundation for tools we aim to bring to drug developers and patients. We plan to sustain and expand this work through partnerships, earned revenue, and future private investment.
Please help us reach our $200,000 campaign goal by donating or sharing this page.
Thank you for helping us get the work underway—and for helping us take the next step.
With gratitude and resolve,
Bernie
Contributions are not tax-deductible as charitable donations.
