Over 100 Presentations Confirmed at Annual SMA Conference

The non-profit organization Cure SMA is inviting its members and other interested parties to join the Annual SMA Conference, which is taking place between June 18 and 21 in Kansas City, Missouri. The event has been held by the organization since 1989 and it currently features the largest SMA-related research meeting in the country, but also an educational component for patients and families.

The conference is divided into two parts, the first of which is dedicated to families who suffer from the burden of spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) that includes workshops, keynote sessions, networking and other recreational events like a dance party and a movie night. In addition, the conference also features an SMA Researcher Meeting, featuring investigators from all over the world and more than 105 presentations about the latest developments in SMA investigation.

“This meeting is the best of its kind,” said one of the investigators that already participated in an article published in the website of Cure SMA. “The value of meeting with researchers, physicians, and parents all in one place is immeasurable. Parents see how much we care, physicians see how much work is required for drug development, and researchers see how much their hard work is appreciated.”

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During the conference, investigators from the medical industry and academia will discuss SMA with the purpose of creating improved communication concerning early and unpublished scientific data in order to advance the pace of research. In addition, the meeting is also meant to help enhance the establishment of productive partnerships, such as cross-disciplinary debate, corporative collaborations, new integration between researchers and drug companies, as well as educational opportunities for junior investigators.

The two days of the conference will include a total of 35 talks and over 70 poster presentations, which were chosen from a series of submitted abstracts by the Cure SMA Scientific Advisory Board. More than 50 organizations from 10 different countries were selected to present new SMA findings and the organization expects the presence of about 250 participants in the conference.

Cure SMA believes that the event will provide novel opportunities to families and investigators by increasing knowledge and collaboration between them.