#ACTRIMS2017 – Forum for MS Research and Treatment Opens Feb. 23 in Orlando

The second annual Americas Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ACTRIMS), a forum for clinicians, researchers and other MS specialists to network and discuss the  latest advances in MS research and treatment is set for Feb. 23–25.

This year’s meeting takes place at the Omni ChampionsGate resort hotel in Orlando, Florida. Multiple Sclerosis News Today will be posting coverage of the proceedings.

More than 600 specialists attended the 2016 inaugural ACTRIMS Forum, held in New Orleans. (ACTRIMS was founded in 1995 to foster the sharing of knowledge, and training and collaboration among MS disciplines.)

This year’s theme will be “Environmental Factors, Genetics, and Epigenetics in MS Susceptibility and Clinical Course,” focusing on the role of the environment, genetic predisposition, and epigenetics (changes caused by modification of gene expression rather than an altered  genetic code) play in MS development and disease outcomes.

Presentations will cover current research into the relationship between diet and MS susceptibility, the effects of sex chromosomes, hormones and puberty on the risk and clinical course of MS, and a synthesis of emerging data from current research on the microbiome’s role in disease pathogenesis.

Debate will look at the potential role of viruses in MS development, and discussions will cover fresh data on genetics and epigenetics as risk factors and disease modulators in MS. The forum also works to mentor research trainees and   junior faculty interested in working in MS, and as place for healthcare providers, therapists, researchers, patient advocacy groups and media to network.

A limited number of ACTRIMS Forum 2017 Educational Grants will be awarded to young investigators, including students, residents, postdoctoral fellows and junior faculty, whose abstracts were accepted for a platform or poster presentation at the forum. Also, four endMS Research and Training Travel Awards will be granted by the MS Society of Canada to candidates with active endMS Postdoctoral Fellowships or Doctoral Studentship Awards, who have had an abstract accepted for presentation at the ACTRIMS Forum.

Onsite registration begins on Thursday, Feb. 23, at 8:00 am. Costs are  $450 for delegates, $400 for Young Investigators (seven years from obtaining an advanced degree; proof of MD or PhD work is required), $500 for Commercial Delegates (researchers, clinicians and staff employed by a pharmaceutical company or a commercial entity), and $225 for other exhibitors.

More information about the 2017 ACTRIMS Forum is available through this link.