The 2024 Neuro-SysMed Annual Symposium
Neuro-SysMed hosted its 2nd Annual Symposium on September 30 and October 1, 2024, at the historic Solstrand Hotel near Bergen, gathering 125 participants from various fields of neurological research. Among the distinguished guest speakers were EBV-MS Scientific Advisory Board Member Professor Gavin Giovannoni and EBV-MS Partner, Assistant Professor Kjetil Bjørnevik.
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As a Norwegian Centre of Excellence, Neuro-SysMed leads the EBV-MS project, focusing on clinical treatment research for neurological conditions such as multiple sclerosis (MS), Parkinson's disease (PD), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and dementia.
The Multiple Sclerosis session of the symposium featured a series of engaging presentations, including those from one of our SAB members and EBV-MS team members. The Neuro-SysMed Director and EBV-MS Project Coordinator Kjell-Morten Myhr opened the symposium with a talk on current challenges in clinical trials in MS. Professor Gavin Giovannoni (Queen Mary University of London, UK) discussed the mode of action of potential antiviral therapies against Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), including preventive vaccines, and their implications for future MS clinical trials. Assistant Professor Kjetil Bjørnevik (Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, USA) discussed the concept of target trial emulation, a new methodological approach that improves the use of observational data in avoiding errors that lead to incorrect causal conclusions, and how this can be applied to neurological research.
The session also featured presentations from local EBV-MS team members. Brit Ellen Rød shared recent findings comparing the effectiveness of cladribine and rituximab in treating relapsing-remitting MS, with rituximab demonstrating superior efficacy over cladribine in all measures during a median follow-up of 4.5 years. Professor Øivind Torkildsen, deputy project coordinator, lead a discussion on the challenges in MS study design and outcome measures in an era of highly effective therapies.
The symposium provided a valuable platform for knowledge exchange and collaboration. Profs Kjell-Morten Myhr, Øivind Torkildsen, and EBV-MS partner Dr. Gro Nygaard from Oslo University Hospital all met together with participating member of the Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) Gavin Giovannoni to discuss the design of the second clinical trial of the EBV-MS consortium and potential outcomes of the ongoing TAF1 trial.