CMSC 30th Annual Meeting in June to Examine Promising Advances in MS Research, Treatment

The Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers (CMSC), a pre-eminent organization of multiple sclerosis (MS) healthcare providers, will hold its 30th Annual Meeting on June 1–4, 2016, at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland.

The CMSC Annual Meeting is the most comprehensive multidisciplinary MS conference in North America, delivering the innovative research findings and advances in MS diagnosis and treatment to healthcare professionals, researchers, and scientists working in the field.

“We are proud to be the face of MS care for 30 years. This year’s Annual Meeting is more important than ever as there are promising new MS therapies on the immediate horizon, diagnostic advancements, and the value of the team approach to care is being documented worldwide,” June Halper, MSN, APN-C, MSCN, FAAN, chief executive officer of CMSC, said in a press release provided to Multiple Sclerosis News Today.

The CMSC educational program comprises a full program of lectures, symposia, workshops, panel discussions, roundtables, and platform and poster presentations. The Professional Education committee has selected nine learning areas: basic science/environmental factors, research, disease management, symptom management, psychosocial (cognition, depression), nursing, rehabilitation, comprehensive care, and professional skills development.

The meeting also offers continuing medical education credits for physicians, pharmacists, psychologists, nurses, social workers, and occupational therapists. Independently supported satellite programs will provide accredited learning opportunities in MS.

Highlights of the 30^th Anniversary CMSC Annual Meeting include:

• Dr. Fred D. Lublin of Mount Sinai Medical Center, whose opening John F. Kurtzke Memorial Lecture is the topic, “Do Relapses Really Matter?”
• Lectures by Dr. Daniel Pelletier on “Genetic Variations Relating to Glutamate Concentration in the Brain”; Dr. Jack Antel on “Multiple Sclerosis: Can the Damage be Undone?”; and the John F. Whitaker Memorial Lecture by Dr. Jerry S. Wolinsky, “Milestones in MS – Mostly Missed When They Happened.”
• New sessions focusing on the role of relapses in overall MS care, brain pediatric MS health advancements, MRI guidelines in MS, the concept of NEDA, best practices in comprehensive care, and a NARCRIMS update.

The meeting will also include networking opportunities for health professionals and leading industry supporters showcasing recent advances in MS.

“As chairman of the Mental Health SIG for CMSC, and member of the board, I am looking forward to welcoming my colleagues and peers to National Harbor, just outside our nation’s capital. With more than 130 educational hours covering the full spectrum of MS care being presented, this milestone learning event for clinicians is not to be missed by researchers and other healthcare practitioners,” said Jeffrey Wilken, PhD, a clinical neuropsychologist at Neuropsychology Associates of Fairfax, and assistant professor of Neurology at Georgetown University.

CMSC provides leadership in clinical research and education, develops vehicles to share information and knowledge among members, disseminates information to the healthcare community and persons affected by MS, and develops and implements mechanisms to influence healthcare delivery.