A successful 35th International Symposium on ALS/MND

Important meetings

The week was kicked off by the ‘Allied Professionals Forum’. This brought together all kinds of healthcare professionals working with ALS to exchange knowledge and experiences, in order to improve the quality of care for people with ALS.

On Thursday 5 December, several smaller meetings were planned, these so-called ‘satellite meetings’ can be organised by companies or foundations prior to the big conference. As people come together from all over the world, this is the time to organise a meeting or small symposium. Such was the case for ENCALS, an international network of European ALS centres. During the ENCALS satellite meeting, several European collaborations were able to present themselves with the aim of finding new collaborations or seeking advice from other researchers. INARC also hosted a networking event, where research staff and other professionals involved with ALS clinical research and care came together to network and connect.

The biggest event of the week took place from 6-8 December: the 35th edition of the ‘International Symposium on ALS/MND’. The snowy Canadian landscape served as the backdrop for the largest ALS medical and scientific conference in the world. In total, more than 1,200 people attended live in Montreal, in addition an additional 250 participants joined online, from over 48 countries.

Over the three days of the event, we heard more than 130 talks from researchers working on all aspects of MND research, from understanding the biology of disease to discovering effective treatments, through to improving the care and quality of life for people currently living with MND. There were presentations on a wide range of topics, highlighting the depth and breadth of MND research happening globally. There were sessions on clinical trials, early detection of disease and modelling MND in the lab through to clinical and respiratory management and decision making.

~ from the MND research blog

TRICALS

TRICALS was also present during this week, with several talks and posters. Our lead-statistician Ruben van Eijk presented about ‘Cultivating patient preferences in ALS clinical trials: The Patient- Ranked Order of Function (PROOF)’. Director of the TRICALS Academy Tommy Bunte presented with Gale Kittle (from NEALS) on ‘Harmonization e-learning for ALS clinical trials: ALSFRS-R harmonized online training platform for cross-continent collaboration’.

It was amazing to be able to reconnect with our network in person and to meet new faces. The symposium provided an inspiring platform for collaboration, with impactful presentations and valuable discussions. We return energized and look forward to meeting everyone again next year in San Diego.