An American man who helped drive the global phenomenon known as the Ice Bucket Challenge to tackle a deadly neurodegenerative disease has died at the age of 37, his team said Sunday.

Patrick Quinn, from New York state, was diagnosed with ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, in 2013.

"It is with great sadness that we must share the passing of Patrick early this morning," his team wrote in a post in Quinn's ALS advocacy Facebook group, "Quinn for the Win."

"We will always remember him for his inspiration and courage in his tireless fight against ALS."

Also read|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/life-is-short-jetman-vince-reffet-dies-in-a-training-exercise-343879" hreflang="en">'Life is short': Jetman Vince Reffet dies in a training exercise</a>

Quinn did not start the Ice Bucket Challenge, which took social media by storm in 2014, but he and his family and friends helped it become a global phenomenon.

Millions took up the challenge, which involved dousing themselves with a bucket of ice cold water and posting the video online, before making a donation to medical research and daring others to do the same.&nbsp;

A galaxy of celebrities, high-profile personalities and entire sports teams took part in the challenge, including Tom Cruise, Steven Spielberg, Bill Gates and even former US president George W. Bush.

The campaign has reportedly raised $220 million to fund research into ALS, whose sufferers' bodies slowly shut down as their nervous systems degenerate.

The condition, officially known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, is also known as Lou Gehrig's disease after a baseball player who died of it in 1941.

Pete Frates, a former US college baseball player diagnosed with ALS who also inspired the ice bucket challenge, died last year at the age of 34.

An American man who helped drive the global phenomenon known as the Ice Bucket Challenge to tackle a deadly neurodegenerative disease has died at the age of 37, his team said Sunday.

An American man who helped drive the global phenomenon known as the Ice Bucket Challenge to tackle a deadly neurodegenerative disease has died at the age of 37, his team said Sunday. Patrick Quinn, from New York state, was diagnosed with ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, in 2013. "It is with great sadness that we must share the passing of Patrick early this morning," his team wrote in a post in Quinn's ALS advocacy Facebook group, "Quinn for the Win." "We will always remember him for his inspiration and courage in his tireless fight against ALS." Also read| 'Life is short': Jetman Vince Reffet dies in a training exercise Quinn did not start the Ice Bucket Challenge, which took social media by storm in 2014, but he and his family and friends helped it become a global phenomenon. Millions took up the challenge, which involved dousing themselves with a bucket of ice cold water and posting the video online, before making a donation to medical research and daring others to do the same. A galaxy of celebrities, high-profile personalities and entire sports teams took part in the challenge, including Tom Cruise, Steven Spielberg, Bill Gates and even former US president George W. Bush. The campaign has reportedly raised $220 million to fund research into ALS, whose sufferers' bodies slowly shut down as their nervous systems degenerate. The condition, officially known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, is also known as Lou Gehrig's disease after a baseball player who died of it in 1941. Pete Frates, a former US college baseball player diagnosed with ALS who also inspired the ice bucket challenge, died last year at the age of 34.

US Ice Bucket Challenge activist dies aged 37

The &#39;Ice Bucket Challenge&#39; that went viral two years ago, raising hundreds of millions of dollars, has helped identify a new gene behind the neurodegenerative disease ALS, or Lou Gehrig&#39;s disease, according to researchers. 
 
The challenge involved people pouring ice-cold water over their heads, posting video on social media, and donating funds for research on the condition, whose sufferers include British physicist Stephen Hawking. 
 
Celebrities including Hilary Swank and former US President George W Bush were among millions of people who took part in 2014, attracting more than 400 million views on social media. 
 
The challenge raised $220 million worldwide, according to the Washington-based ALS Association. News of the gene discovery again sent Ice Bucket Challenge viral on Wednesday (July 27). 
 
&quot;It is a worldwide effort. There were 80 authors on this publication from 11 different countries and so all of them contributed and if we didn&#39;t do this as one large group, this discovery wouldn&#39;t have been identified,&quot; John Landers of the University of Massachusetts Medical School said on Wednesday. Landers and Jan Veldink of University Medical Center Utrecht led the study. 
 
&quot;Once the Ice Bucket Challenge kicked in, the ALS Association, which received a large majority of the Ice Bucket money in the US came to us and said, &#39;Well, we can actually fund your study now&#39; and as a result of that, we&#39;ve been able to participate in this global effort on ALS genetics and as a result that was a major contributor to the finding that we just published indicating that we&#39;ve identified a new susceptibility gene for ALS,&quot; Landers continued. 
 
The money funded the largest ever study of inherited ALS and identified a new gene, NEK1, that ranks among the most common genes that contribute to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. 
 
&quot;The importance of finding this gene is, from our point of view, is as we understand more and more of these genes we can actually understand what is going wrong in ALS patients. In reality we don&#39;t really have a good grasp on what is actually going wrong in ALS patients, but as we find more genes that seem to contribute to the disease itself, what it does is that it gives us what pathways may be going wrong in ALS patients and as a result this can lead us to therapeutic treatments for ALS patients,&quot; Landers said. 
 
The research was published in the scientific journal Nature Genetics this week and scientists hope it will provide another potential target for therapy development. 
 
(Reuters)

The money raised from the challenge in 2014 funded the largest ever study of inherited ALS and identified a new gene, NEK1

The 'Ice Bucket Challenge' that went viral two years ago, raising hundreds of millions of dollars, has helped identify a new gene behind the neurodegenerative disease ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease, according to researchers. The challenge involved people pouring ice-cold water over their heads, posting video on social media, and donating funds for research on the condition, whose sufferers include British physicist Stephen Hawking. Celebrities including Hilary Swank and former US President George W Bush were among millions of people who took part in 2014, attracting more than 400 million views on social media. The challenge raised $220 million worldwide, according to the Washington-based ALS Association. News of the gene discovery again sent Ice Bucket Challenge viral on Wednesday (July 27). "It is a worldwide effort. There were 80 authors on this publication from 11 different countries and so all of them contributed and if we didn't do this as one large group, this discovery wouldn't have been identified," John Landers of the University of Massachusetts Medical School said on Wednesday. Landers and Jan Veldink of University Medical Center Utrecht led the study. "Once the Ice Bucket Challenge kicked in, the ALS Association, which received a large majority of the Ice Bucket money in the US came to us and said, 'Well, we can actually fund your study now' and as a result of that, we've been able to participate in this global effort on ALS genetics and as a result that was a major contributor to the finding that we just published indicating that we've identified a new susceptibility gene for ALS," Landers continued. The money funded the largest ever study of inherited ALS and identified a new gene, NEK1, that ranks among the most common genes that contribute to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. "The importance of finding this gene is, from our point of view, is as we understand more and more of these genes we can actually understand what is going wrong in ALS patients. In reality we don't really have a good grasp on what is actually going wrong in ALS patients, but as we find more genes that seem to contribute to the disease itself, what it does is that it gives us what pathways may be going wrong in ALS patients and as a result this can lead us to therapeutic treatments for ALS patients," Landers said. The research was published in the scientific journal Nature Genetics this week and scientists hope it will provide another potential target for therapy development. (Reuters)

Ice bucket challenge credited for ALS gene breakthrough

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US Ice Bucket Challenge activist dies aged 37

Ice bucket challenge credited for ALS gene breakthrough