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How can technology and telemedicine play a role in MND care and research?

How can technology and telemedicine play a role in MND care and research?

Reading Time: 5 minutes Hi, my name is Avril Mc Tague. I am undertaking a Ph.D. at Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland as part of the Multidisciplinary Innovation and Research Advancing Neurological care in a Digital Age (MIRANDA) doctoral award programme. This is funded by the Health Research Board in Ireland. I was one of five symposium communication ambassadors at last year’s international symposium.

Reuniting the MND community at the 34th International Symposium on ALS/MND

Reuniting the MND community at the 34th International Symposium on ALS/MND

Reading Time: 4 minutes After 3 years of online events, the MND research and healthcare community reunited in-person at the 34th International Symposium on ALS/MND in Basel, Switzerland! From 6 – 8 December 2023, we welcomed back over 1300 delegates, including researchers, health and social care professionals and people living with and affected by MND, becoming one of our…

Symposium Preview: Meet the ALS/FTD Plenary Speakers…Part 1

Symposium Preview: Meet the ALS/FTD Plenary Speakers…Part 1

Reading Time: 5 minutes Every year, the team works hard to build on the previous year’s success. This year we are excited to include a series of three ALS-FTD joint sessions, in collaboration with the International Society for Frontotemporal Dementias, in the programme.

Some people with ALS, the most common form of MND, also develop a form of dementia known as frontotemporal dementia (FTD). FTD is a group of disorders where the nerve cells in two sets of lobes (frontal and temporal) in the brain are damaged. In a similar way to how motor neurones break down in MND and cause loss of function in muscles, the damage to the nerve cells in FTD causes the connections between parts of the brain to break down. As more cells become damaged and die this can lead to symptoms such as problems with memory, thinking or language, changes in mood, emotions and behaviour.

Symposium Preview: Meet the Symposium Communications Ambassadors

Symposium Preview: Meet the Symposium Communications Ambassadors

Reading Time: 7 minutes Each year at the Symposium, there is a huge amount of research presented on a range of topics from across the globe. With the Symposium returning to an in-person event this year, we are keen to increase the number of updates we share for those not able to attend, including people living with and affected by MND.

To help us do this, we have launched a new Symposium Communications Ambassador Programme so we can bring more of the research from the Symposium to non-scientific audiences. This programme was open for applications from early career researchers working in MND, who were interested in helping us shine a light on MND research happening across the world. This year we have 5 early career researchers taking part in the Programme, who will gain experience and new skills in communicating research to different audiences. Before, during and after the Symposium our Ambassador’s will be helping us to share the latest research with the MND community.

Symposium Preview: Meet the ALS/MND Plenary Speakers…Part 2

Symposium Preview: Meet the ALS/MND Plenary Speakers…Part 2

Reading Time: 7 minutes Each year we invite plenary speakers who are experts in their fields to provide an overview on topics across MND research and clinical practice. This year we have 14 plenary speakers talking about ALS/MND who will discuss a wide range of topics from genetics to tissue biomarkers to improving clinical practice. In this second blog we will be taking a closer look at some of our plenary speakers this year and sharing more about the topics they will be discussing.

Investigating differences in protein production in MND

Investigating differences in protein production in MND

Reading Time: 4 minutes My name is Dr Hannah Smith, and I’m a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Edinburgh. My project is supervised by Professor Tom Gillingwater, and my work is funded by MND Scotland. My current research focuses on comparing healthy motor neurons and those with MND/ALS, specifically focusing on early changes to the cellular machinery and how the motor neurons produce the proteins they need to function. I’ll discuss the specifics of that, and why we are interested in finding out this information, in the next section.