VIDEO: COVID-19 ‘hasn’t stopped’ MS care, research

In this video from MSVirtual2020, Jeffrey Cohen, MD, professor of medicine (neurology) at Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine and ACTRIMS president, provides an overview of what to expect from the meeting. The 8^th Joint ACTRIMS-ECTRIMS Meeting is being held from Sept. 11-13, 2020, in a virtual format because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“One aspect of the story is the meeting itself,” Cohen told Healio Neurology. “Most of us spend a lot of time on Zoom conferences now, but I don’t think many of us have attended a large scientific meeting virtually.”

The meeting features four tracks, according to Cohen: clinical, pathogenesis, translational and environmental/genetic factors. He classified the themes of the meeting into three categories, including the treatment of MS and related diseases; the causes of MS and the processes that result in neurologic damage; and the tests used to diagnose and monitor the disease.

“The field hasn’t stopped” because of the pandemic, Cohen said. “We’re still making progress. We’re refining how we use available treatments, we’re still developing new treatments and we’re developing treatments to address novel aspects of the disease.”

MSVirtual2020 will feature an encore session on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2020, with late-breaking abstracts and a COVID-19 presentation.