Over 720 neuromuscular researchers and clinicians from 45 countries gathered for the 18th International Congress on Neuromuscular Diseases at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre in October.
Professor Sulev Koks, Head of Genetic Epidemiology Research at Perron Institute and the Centre for Molecular Medicine and Innovative Therapeutics at Murdoch University, was President of the ICNMD 2024. The conference is run by the World Federation of Neurology (WFN) every second year. Professor Wolfgang Grisold is the WFN President and P. James Dyck MD is ICNMD Chair.
The many local committee members from the Perron Institute included Professor Steve Wilton AO, Dr Dev Nathani, Professor Anthony Akkari, Dr May Aung-Htut and Kate Parker, and Professor Miranda Grounds from UWA, who have been working to bring this conference to Perth since 2020.
“The ICNMD program included over 120 invited speakers from more than 25 countries, 4 Hands-on courses, 10 Teaching courses, over 45 Scientific sessions, 4 Plenary Talks, and separate days dedicated to Muscle, Motor Neuron, Nerve and Neuromuscular Junction,” Professor Koks said.
“It was a great opportunity for leaders in their fields to network and share the latest knowledge, and we were delighted to provide a hospitable welcome and host delegates in sunny Perth.”
Some of the congress talks and sessions by local, national and international Perron Institute researchers and collaborators were:
- A plenary session by Emeritus Professor Nigel Laing (Harry Perkins Institute) titled: ‘Genetic Testing – Newborn and Carriers’ and ‘Carrier screening’
- Professor Volker Straub (University College London, UK) chaired a session on ‘Duchenne/Dystrophinopathies’ and presented on ‘Gene Therapies’, and
- Professor Wilton (Perron Institute/Murdoch University) presented ‘Exon-Skipping/PMO Therapies’
- Professor Koks presented ‘A Genome-Wide Screen for the Exonisation Of SVA Elements in MND’
- Dr Abigail Pfaff (Perron Institute/Murdoch University) presented a teaching session titled ‘ALS Genetics – Why Do They Matter’ and on ‘The role of LINE-1 retrotransposons in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis’
- Professor Kevin Talbot (University of Oxford, UK) on ‘The Role of TDP-43 in ALS’
- Professor Akkari (Perron Institute/Murdoch University) presented on ‘The Role of Stathmin-2 in ALS’
- Dr Loren Flynn (Perron Institute/Murdoch University) presented on ‘Development of a novel SOD1 Antisense Therapy for SOD1-linked and Sporadic ALS’
- Yuval Gurfinkel (Perron Institute PhD candidate) presented ‘Characterising disease heterogeneity in sporadic ALS patient iPSC-derived motor neurons’
- Professor Bradley Turner chaired the ‘ALS Biomarkers’ session and presented on ‘Precision Medicine Approaches for Drug Development In ALS’
- Professor Matthew Kiernan (Neuroscience Research Australia) chaired the session ‘ALS Diagnosis – Updates’ and presented on ‘Updates on ALS Diagnostic Criteria’, and a teaching session on ‘What are the Mechanisms Leading to ALS’
- Dr Alfredo Iacoangeli (Kings College London) presented ‘Dissecting the Heterogeneity of ALS Using Large-Scale Genomics’
- Professor Merrilee Needham (Perron Institute, Murdoch University and Fiona Stanley Hospital) chaired the session: ‘New Myositis Therapies’ and presented a talk on ‘New Treatment for IBM’
Western Australia has an outstanding history of successful research in neuromuscular disease including the first United States Food and Drug Administration approved treatments for Duchenne muscular dystrophy led by Professor Wilton and Professor Sue Fletcher and their team.
ICNMD was last held in Perth in 1971, following the ground-breaking research by Western Australian Emeritus Professor Byron Kakulas AO who showed that degenerated muscle could regenerate in Rottnest Island quokkas.
ICNMD 2024 was an opportunity for world leading researchers and clinicians to return to Perth, reconnect and make new connections.
For more info visit: https://icnmd.org/ and to see the program click here.