Cure SMA has released the full schedule of workshops, panels and speakers for the 2018 Annual SMA Conference, to be held at the Hilton Anatole Hotel in Dallas, TX from June 14-17.
A detailed timeline with locations are included in the updated schedule, as well as several new workshops like Oral-Motor Exercises for Speech Clarity and Feeding, Top Tips on Traveling Around the World, Care for the Caregiver, Aquatic Therapy Q & A session, Navigating the Special Education Process: Setting Our Kids up for Success, and more! The full schedule can be viewed and downloaded here.
There will be 3 family symposiums held throughout the conference. The first, sponsored by Biogen, called Biogen Lunch and Learn will be held on Friday afternoon. Saturday’s Lunch with Symposium: Explore Gene Replacement Therapy will be sponsored by AveXis. Finally, the Family Breakfast with Symposium: Bringing the Patient Voice into SMA Research on Sunday morning will be sponsored by Genentech/Roche.
Additionally, the Research Q&A Session panelists and topics are as follows:
Research Q&A Session at Annual SMA Conference
Saturday, June 16, from 3:15 pm to 5:15 pm
3:15pm to 3:35pm
Welcome and Update on Cure SMA Research Activities. Jill Jarecki, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer, Cure SMA
Dr. Jarecki will discuss the scope and goals for Cure SMA research investments.
3:35pm to 4:25pm
Part I: SMA Research Panel (Basic science and Pre-Clinical Drug Development, Second Generation and Combinatorial Therapies)
Moderated by Jackie Glascock, PhD, Senior Scientific Program Manager, Cure SMA
Panel of SMA Basic Scientists/Companies with Pre-Clinical Drugs in Development
- Umrao Monani, PhD, Associate Professor of Pathology and Cell Biology, Columbia University
- Charlotte Sumner, MD, Professor of Neurology and Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
- Barrington Burnett, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Genetics, Uniformed Services University
- Steve O’Connor, PhD, Chief Executive Officer, Shift Pharmaceuticals
4:25pm to 5:15pm
Part II: Clinical Trial Updates
Moderated by Jill Jarecki, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer, Cure SMA
Panel of Companies with Drugs in Clinical Trials
- Stacy Rudnicki, MD, Senior Medical Director, Clinical Research, Neurology, Cytokinetics
- Douglas M. Sproule, MD, MSc, Vice President, SMA Therapeutic Area Head, AveXis Inc, AveXis Inc.
- Paulo Fontoura, MD PhD, Global Head Clinical Development Neuroscience, F.Hoffmann-La Roche/Genentech
- Herve Jullien de Pommerol MSc, MBA, Global Program Head, Neuroscience, Novartis
- Wildon Farwell MD, Senior Medical Director, Clinical Development, Biogen
Record Breaking Year for the Annual SMA Conference
We are expecting over 1,600 individuals, families and medical professionals, including over 450 researchers, at this year’s conference – our largest researcher meeting and Midwest/central regional conference to date!
We look forward to reuniting as a community to lend one another support and strength, to learn about the latest advances in research and care, and to discuss the importance of continued funding after the first drug approval.
See you in Dallas!