Logo for LaunchBio Program: Invest in CuresLogo for LaunchBio Program: Invest in Cures

A disease foundation forum

Stitching Strength
  • February 12, 2026
  • 2:15pm - 4:00pm PT
San Francisco | UCSF Mission Bay Conference Center

Invest in Cures Film Screening

Stitching Strength Film Screening and Q&A

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Program

We are delighted to host a free public screening of Dr. Richard Bedlack’s 32-minute documentary Stitching Strength, followed by an audience Q&A with Richard Bedlack, MD, PhD and Catherine Lomen-Hoerth, MD, PhD.

Stitching Strength captures the fight against ALS, a terminal disease that strips away the body’s control, through a lens of creativity, courage, and connection. At its heart is Dr. Rick Bedlack, a neurologist whose bold fashion and bolder optimism set the tone for a radically different kind of care. But this isn’t just his story. It’s about the patients who refuse to be defined by their diagnosis and the families who turn grief into art, music, and action. This is not a story of surrender, it’s a story of style, strength, and the power of believing in what’s still possible.

Agenda

2:15 – 2:30pm Check in

2:30 – 3:15pm Film Screening: Stitching Strength

3:15 – 4:00pm Networking Reception

Please note if you are attending Invest in Cures, you are automatically registered to attend the film screening and do not need to secure an extra ticket.

Speakers

  • Dr. Rick Bedlack

    Rick Bedlack, MD, PhD, Stewart, Hughes, and Wendt Distinguished Professor of ALS at Duke, Director of the Duke ALS Program

    Dr. Richard Bedlack grew up in a small town in central Connecticut. He is currently Stewart, Hughes, and Wendt Distinguished Professor of ALS at Duke and Director of the Duke ALS Program. He has won awards for teaching and patient care, including best Neurology teacher at Duke, Health Care Hero, Strength Hope, and Caring Award, America’s Best Doctor, the American Academy of Neurology Patient Advocate of the Year, the Rasmussen ALS Patient Advocate of the Year, Forbes-Norris Award, and Hop-On-A-Cure AMP Award.

     

    He has received ALS research grants, participated in ALS clinical trials, and published more than 180 ALS articles. He is the leader of the international ALSUntangled program which utilizes social networking to investigate alternative and off-label treatment options for patients with ALS, and leader of the ALS Reversals program which attempts to understand why some people with ALS recover from it, and to make this happen more often. He lives in Durham, North Carolina with his wife Shelly, a mischievous black cat, and a closet full of eye-catching blazers.

  • Catherine Lomen Hoerth

    Catherine Lomen-Hoerth, MD, PhD, Director, ALS Center at UCSF Medical Center

    Dr. Catherine Lomen-Hoerth specializes in treating patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. She is director of the ALS Center at UCSF Medical Center. Lomen-Hoerth is particularly interested in research involving electrophysiological and genetic predictors in ALS. Her patients have the opportunity to participate in research projects or clinical trials of new treatments. She also is interested in the overlap of ALS and frontotemporal dementia, a related disease involving degeneration of the nervous system.

     

    Lomen-Hoerth earned her bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from the University of Arizona. She earned her medical degree and a doctorate in neurosciences at Stanford University School of Medicine. At UCSF, she served as chief resident in neurology and completed a fellowship in electromyography and neuromuscular disorders.

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