Whilst the main Symposium runs over three days, there are several satellite meetings in the days building up to the Symposium as well as during the Symposium itself.
International Alliance of ALS/MND Associations
The International Alliance of ALS/MND Associations organise meetings to serve the broader ALS/MND community: The Annual International Alliance Meeting, ALS/MND Connect Session
and Allied Professionals Forum.
As a result of the continuing global uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the International Alliance, in consultation with the MND Association, ALS Canada and ALS Quebec, has taken the very difficult decision to move this year’s International Alliance Meetings and the Allied Professionals Forum to a virtual format where we will still have the opportunity for global collaboration and be able to work towards a World Without ALS/MND.
Before the Symposium, the Annual Alliance Meeting is attended by representatives of ALS/MND associations from around the world and provide a forum for member associations to meet and share advances in supporting people living with ALS/MND. It is an excellent opportunity for representatives of ALS/MND associations to discuss organizational development and planning, regulation, advocacy, patient care, research and funding.
The meeting will be attended by 100+ delegates from over 40 countries around the globe either in real time or with recording (due to time zones). These delegates represent the Alliance’s many member associations.
This year’s meeting will focus on the themes of; advocacy, research and science, programming for PALS/CALS, organizational development, and looking to the future.
For more information, please visit the Alliance website.
The Allied Professionals Forum (APF) is an educational and training forum for allied health professionals, such as physiotherapists, respiratory therapists, nutritionists, speech-language pathologists, social workers and more, who specialise in ALS/MND. This international forum offers healthcare professionals from around the world an opportunity to share ideas on good practice in the daily management of people with ALS/MND. The International Alliance of ALS/MND Associations will host a virtual Allied Professionals Forum spread over two days to accommodate time zones on 3 – 4 December 2020.
The APF presentations are on practical care strategies and assistive technology innovations for the clinical management of ALS/MND. If you are an Allied health professional, in the clinical management of ALS/MND then this is the meeting for you.
For more information and to register, visit the Alliance website. You can watch recordings from the 2019 APF here.
Every year the International Alliance of MND/ALS Associations invite the host association to organise a free ‘ALS/MND Connect‘ session (formerly called Ask the Experts), as an addendum to the Alliance meeting.
ALS/MND Connect is an open session which allows people living with ALS/MND and their caregivers to attend an afternoon of presentations by neurologists and researchers . This session is live-streamed on Facebook, so people with ALS/MND from around the world can attend and ask questions online. For more information, visit the Alliance website.
In 2019, the session was chaired by Professor Merrilee Needham (Fiona Stanley Hospital, Australia) and we heard from Professor Matthew Kiernan AM (The University of Sydney, Australia), Professor Ammar Al Chalabi (King’s MND Care and Research Centre, United Kingdom), and Professor Leonard Van den Berg (University Medical Center Utrecht, Netherlands). The session was live streamed on Facebook, so anyone from around the world could take part. Watch the 2019 Connect session on Facebook here.
More information regarding the International Alliance meetings can be found on the International Alliance Website.
ENCALS
ENCALS (European Network to Cure ALS) is a network of ALS centres in Europe. ALS Centre membership is open to Universities/Hospitals in Europe with ALS clinical/research activity.
The ENCALS satellite meeting 2020 will be held on Tuesday 8 December 15:30-17:30 CET.
This satellite meeting is prior to the 31st International Symposium on ALS/MND on 9-11 December 2020. The goal of this satellite meeting is to discuss international collaborations, SOPs and translation of new developments to the clinic.
For more information, please visit the ENCALS website.
More information regarding the International Alliance meetings can be found on the International Alliance Website.