GeoALS is a group of mostly volunteers called Mappers. The first Mappers were brought together in 2016 by Pat Dolan to support his vision of using GIS in the ALS space.

Upon his diagnosis in 2016, Pat knew he wanted to apply his 25 years of GIS experience in the utility industry (using spatial & data analyses) for two missions:

• To help solve ALS care-access issues

• To support environmental risk factor studies.

A tale of two missions (plus more missions!)

In 2017, data analysis expert Earl Sarow (pictured with wife Liz below) graciously agreed to help Pat use GIS to connect the underserved with care, to help get all ALS patients counted in the CDC ALS registry, and to support researchers studying ALS disease causation. Since then, the Mappers have continued to help with these initiatives and more. In 2018, Pat retired from Esri and Esri donated technology to the Mappers. In 2024, to help continue the Mappers’ work, Pat founded GeoALS, a non-profit organization dedicated to these same goals (officers with Pat are pictured to the right). Pat and GeoALS continue to receive donated technology from Esri.

Joining forces with Sandy’s crew

In 2022, a group of ALS advocates hand-picked by ALS warrior Sandy Morris (photo below) joined forces with Pat to release ALS Clinic Advisor. Since then, these warriors have become Mappers for GeoALS. In 2022, ALS tragically claimed the life of Sandy, the fiercest fighter for ALS legislation and fair clinical trials there has ever been in the ALS disease space. Sandy played a crucial role in beginning to break down the many man-made barriers to ALS treatments that have been obstacles for over 150 years. We’re now trying our best to carry her baton.