I'll be discussing an important condition that always coexists alongside MS, which is ageing. We'll take a deep dive into the biology of ageing building from mechanistic studies up to human data. And crucially, we'll consider how the mechanisms that drive ageing can be modified and what future therapies might look like to boost remyelination, protect axons and prevent disability across the lifespan.
Chris McMurran
Academic Clinical Fellow, University of Cambridge
I will be talking at ECTRIMS about CAR-T cell therapy in autoimmune diseases. This concept, originally developed for cancer, is now in the focus in the area of autoimmune diseases. The genetically modified T cells recognise and deplete. For example, CD19 expressing B cells also within tissue so within the brain. Therefore, the hope is to tackle smouldering pathology in the brain and spinal cord in people with multiple sclerosis, which has to be certainly shown in all the trials currently running.
Frauke Zipp
Professor of Neurology, Chair of Neurology, University Medicine Mainz
The session will speak about radiologically isolated syndrome (RIS), which is very important because it brings us to the very earliest phases of MS and the main question will be whether RIS should be integrated in the MS spectrum as is asymptomatic MS or not, and then, if yes, how the patients should be managed.
Mikael Cohen
MD, PhD, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire in Nice
ECTRIMS 2024 will be the first time I have ever attended this conference. It is something of a career highlight for me. Actually, I have been hoping to attend for over 20 years. I feel like ECTRIMS is similar to the Olympics, where you have a venue full of great and talented people who are sharing their work. And growing a sense of community, it makes the world seem a lot smaller when everyone can get together and share their research for the greater good. So a must attend event as far as the research community and anyone with an interest and passion in MS.
Fiona d'Young
MS Clinical Nurse Specialist, Auckland District Health Board Te Toko Tumai
I will give a talk on the fact of fish oil and fish oil consumption on the risk of developing MS and also on disease activity in MS. I will go through the evidence for their efficacy and give recommendations based on this.
Øivind Torkildsen
Professor, University of Bergen and Haukeland University Hospital
I will talk about infections and MS therapies, which is a growing concern with increasingly effective therapies. However, not all DMTs nor people with MS have the same risk profile, and it's important to be as precise as possible. This will help us to establish a benefit risk profile at the individual level.
Fredrik Piehl
Professor, Karolinska Institutet
At the upcoming ECTRIMS conference, I will be presenting the practical implementation of new criteria within the new diagnostic criteria session. We are fully aware that every time a new set of criteria is proposed, there are huge challenges in their implementation. In particular, we want to make sure that people with suspected MS are able to go through a clear path for excluding or confirming the diagnosis in the shortest possible time and with the highest accuracy.
Marcello Moccia
Professor, University of Naples
We will discuss which assay is the best to test the MOG antibodies, which matrix we should test them in and which is the best moment to test them during the clinical evolution of the disease in every patient. This is, of course, very important because it provides the best data on the MOG antibodies results, which is mandatory to diagnose MOGAD and for a proper differential diagnosis with other inflammatory or demyelinating conditions.
Sara Mariotto
MD PhD, Neurology Unit, University of Verona
ECTRIMS 2024 will continue the tradition of being the single most important multiple sclerosis meeting of the year. We all get together once a year with our colleagues from around the world and present the new and interesting material that's coming up.
Fred Lublin
Professor of Neurology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
One of the most crucial topics in MS research today is the smouldering inflammation, which seems to be, at least partly, independent of the well known acute inflammation that characterises relapses. Such smouldering inflammation seems responsible for progression independent of relapses and for a large part of the disability accumulation in our patients.
Massimiliano Calabrese
Professor of Neurology, University of Verona