ALS Researcher Succumbs to Disease He Studied Dr. Richard Olney, an internationally renowned researcher who dedicated his life to finding a cure for Lou Gehrig's disease, has died after his own eight-year battle with the disease. He was 64. The University of California, San Francisco announced Monday that Olney died at his Marin County home on Friday surrounded by his family. He had spent nearly his entire 25-year research career at UCSF, the last 18 investigating amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, better known as ALS. Olney launched the UCSF ALS Center in 1993 to pursue treatments for the disease, which causes patients to gradually lose control of their muscles. It now serves 375 patients. Olney resigned from the center in 2004 to attend to his own health.