ECTRIMS Congress 2021: Research Insights

Due to the ongoing challenges and restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic, ECTRIMS Congress 2021 was once again held as a virtual conference this year.  Taking place between October 13 and 15, this meeting remains the world’s largest multiple sclerosis (MS) research conference, providing international researchers with the opportunity to share insights and outcomes from both recent and ongoing studies.  In parallel, the congress fosters conversation on important topics critical to the treatment and care of people living with MS.  Had it been able to go ahead as per normal, the event had been scheduled for Vienna, Austria.

As the convenor of this annual meeting is the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS), it meant our co-founder and chief science communicator, Brett Drummond, was once again working the night shift (9:00pm to 4:00am) from our base in Melbourne, Australia.  Throughout the three days, Brett ‘attended’ as many live presentations as possible, tweeting important insights and announcements as they were made using the offical event hashtag, #ECTRIMS2021.  Upon the conclusion of each day, Brett then recorded a video summarising these outcomes in more detail.  Each of these three features were published across each of our social media platforms and can now also be viewed below.

As in past years, we are pleased to announce that Brett’s coverage generated great engagement from both the MS research community and people living with MS.  Across the three days, many of his live tweets were retweeted from the offical ECTRIMS Congress account, while the European Multiple Sclerosis Platform (EMSP) chose to include his summary videos in their own daily synopses.

After watching the daily summary videos, please don’t hesitate to leave any questions you may have in the comments below.  Alternatively, you can engage and participate in the ECTRIMS 2021 conversation across our social channels, or email Brett directly at brett@mstranslate.com.au.  Community queries, insights, opinions and feedback are always welcomed!

DAY ONE:
COVID-19 vaccines, progressive MS, new potential treatments and managing sleep disturbances

DAY TWO:
Cognition, smoking, stem cells, genetics and clinical trials

DAY THREE:
Remyelination and the gut microbiome

POST EVENT:
Latest Remyelination Research Developments in MS

In his first feature since officially joining the MStranslate team, Novoron Bioscience CEO, Dr Travis Stiles, sat down with Brett to discuss the latest developments in remyelination research in multiple sclerosis.  In addition to answering questions submitted by members of our online communities, Travis and Brett looked in detail at the presentations on this topic delivered at the ECTRIMS Congress 2021.

Multiple Sclerosis Limited ‘Not Alone’ Podcast

After ECTRIMS Congress 2021, Brett was also invited to participate in Multiple Sclerosis Limited’s ‘Not Alone’ podcast series. Joining their Education and Wellbeing Coordinator, Nicola Graham, Brett provided further research insights from the conference. Thank you to Multiple Sclerosis Limited for the invitation to take part, and for allowing us to share this discussion with our community. Learn more about the organisation and their ‘Not Alone’ podcast series here.

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